Stolen Treasure
by DreamWvr73
Summary: Tragedy strikes and MacGyver, Gillian, Min and Johnny have to team up and work together.
1. Default Chapter

It was nap time in the Gage house; Min, Johnny and Evan were all sound asleep. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and the threesome had just finished coming back from grocery shopping. Min had taken off her jean shorts. She was in a dark blue t-shirt, curled up beside her husband. Johnny was lying on his back. He was bare chested, his green t-shirt was crumpled up on the floor. The fireman was only in a pair of hunter green shorts, his arm slung across his wife's shoulders. The phone started ringing and the couple groaned, Johnny opened his eyes and looked down at his wife.

"Get that will you?"

Min sighed; she rubbed her eyes and rolled over. "Whoever it is had better be dead or dying."  She reached out and picked up the phone. "Hello this better be good."

"Hello to you too Sunshine…" 

Min didn't recognize the voice on the other end, she creased her brow. "Who is this?"

"I'll give you a hint; right now I'm wearing a t-shirt that says, OPERATIVES DO IT IN DISGUISE." 

The young woman smiled and sat up. "MacGyver?"

"Good guess."

"Hey! Long time no hear! Where have you two been?"

The man on the other end sighed. "Long story Min; let's just say that for a couple of weeks I was indisposed."

"Indisposed?"

"Yeah, I got_ buried_ in work. And then once that got taken care of we've been really busy."

Min nodded. "Oh, well I figured there was a good reason we hadn't heard from you two."

"I know and we're really sorry about that Min."

Johnny opened his eyes and reached out; he put his hand on his wife's back. "Let me talk to him."

Min turned back and looked at her husband. "That's okay; I know how busy you guys get. Do you want to talk to Johnny?"

"Sure, if that lazy Seminole is around."

She started laughing. "Oh he's around, he's right here." She turned around and handed the phone to her husband.

Johnny took the phone and put it against his ear. "Hey Mac, what's up? Did you get amnesia and forget our phone number?"

"No, just been really busy lately and of course there was the matter of my death."

The paramedic sat up. "What?" He looked at his wife and widened his eyes at her. "What do you mean you died?"

Min's mouth opened a little. "What?"

Mac sighed over the phone. "Johnny the truth is that Gillian and I disappeared for a couple of weeks because I was supposed to have been dead and buried."

"Why?" 

"Let's just say the FBI wanted me to testify against someone with a lot of bad friends, so they buried me 6 feet under until this guy went to jail."

Johnny nodded. "I see, well that certainly explains why we didn't hear from you guys when we got back from Montana."

"Yeah that was why, say what are you and Min doing tonight?"

"I don't think we are doing anything, but hang on and I'll check."

"Okay."

The paramedic put his hand over the phone and looked at his wife. "Are we doing anything tonight?"

His wife shook her head. "No, nothing's planned."

Johnny put the phone back to his ear. "No we're free, do you want to get together?"

"Yeah I thought you Min and Evan could come over for dinner."

"That'd be great; we haven't celebrated your promotion. What time?"

"Uh…how's 7 sound?"

Johnny nodded. "7 it is, do you want us to bring anything?"

"Nah, just yourselves."

"Okay Mac, we'll see you at 7."

"See you then."

Johnny handed the phone back to Min, she hung up it up. "All right Gage, what in the world was he talking about? What did he mean he died?"

Johnny put his arms around his wife and they both laid back on the bed. He relayed the brief story he had gotten from MacGyver to his wife.

"So what are we going to cook?"

Gillian was in her red bikini top and a pair of jean shorts, her long red hair was in a pony tail. She had a bucket and two sponges in her hand. She set them down on the grass. Her husband put the top back on his Corvette and stepped out of it. He had on a red t-shirt and his red swimming trunks. He took off his tennis shoes and socks and set them in the driver's seat. He closed the door and walked around the car.

"Oh I don't know, whatever we can think of." He unrolled the water hose, he turned the faucet and started wetting down his dirty car. Gillian picked up the bucket and took out a bottle of soap.  She poured a capful of the blue powder into it. 

"Hey fill her up." 

Mac walked over to his wife and stuck the hose down in the bucket. The blue bucket was soon over flowing with white soap suds. Gillian set the bucket down and dipped the two sponges into it. She picked up one of them and started wiping down the back of the Corvette. The black car was so dirty it was now a light grey color.

"Holy Smokes Mac what did you drive through the Sahara?"

"No, I've been driving the Nomad, all this dirt is from being in the garage." He finished wetting down the car, he picked up the other sponge. He started washing the other end of the Corvette.

"How about I make a couple of roasted chickens? We bought that little rotisserie oven why not put it to good use?"

"Yeah we can do that."

Gillian was done with her half of the car. She walked around the car and spotted where her husband had dropped the hose. She picked it up and turned the attachment that was on it and started rinsing it.  

Mac dipped his sponge in the bucket and was washing the passenger side. "Hey Gill, can you wet this side of the car again please?"

"Sure." She had finished rinsing off her half. She walked to the side and aimed the hose at the passenger side. Mac was standing back, not wanting to get wet. 

Gillian saw him trying to keep out of the way; she got a very wicked idea. She wet down that side of the Corvette and moved the hose to point directly at her husband.

"Oh Mac?"

MacGyver turned his head and looked at his wife; he saw the hose and opened his mouth. Before he could get one word out Gillian turned on the hose and a thick stream of water hit her husband in the chest; wetting his hair and face and completely drenching his t-shirt. The young woman started laughing when she saw her sopping wet husband. He casually wiped his face off and smoothed his hair back.

"Nice, thanks a lot."

Gillian watched as he lifted his soaking t-shirt over his head and rung it out. She grinned as she got a good look at his back and chest. "No, thank _you_."

Mac saw the way his wife was smiling. "You did that on purpose to get me shirtless didn't you?"

"What was your first clue?" She walked over to him and wiped some water off of his chest. "Are you mad?"

He sighed and tossed his wet shirt onto the porch. "Well let me see, you turned the hose on me and soaked me with freezing cold water."

Gillian nodded. "Yeah I did, but I'm also helping you wash your filthy car."

Her husband raised an eyebrow. "If you don't want me to be mad then let's get back to it."

"Are you going to get even?"

Mac shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know yet, maybe."

"Fair enough."

The couple worked on the one dirty side of the Corvette. Gillian had wisely tucked the hose into her pocket as she helped her husband wash off the other half of his car. Mac was watching, waiting for his chance to pay his wife back. She crouched down to get the right front tire, the hose popped out of her pocket. The young woman didn't seem to notice, she was busy scrubbing the hubcap. MacGyver casually picked it up and stood over his wife. 

"Gill?" He had a large grin on his face.

"What is it Baby?" 

"Oh, I just wanted to give you something." 

MacGyver pulled the trigger on the hose and a spray of water hit his wife on the top of her head and ran down her back. The young woman screamed and stood up; she whipped around and saw her husband. He was laughing hard; he dropped the hose and started running. Gillian took off after him, she jumped on his back. "You soaked me with the hose!"

"Hey I was just getting even!" He grabbed her legs and started giving her a piggy back ride. "I was just doing what you did, trying to get you out of your bikini top."

Gillian climbed down off of her husband. She wiped the water off of her arms and face. "Oh yeah like I would take it off in the middle of the yard in front of our neighbors?"

They walked back over to the Corvette and rinsed it off, it was all shiny wet and clean now.

"Wow it looks great!"

Mac put his hands on his hips and looked at his shining car. Gillian turned off the hose and stood beside her husband. "Yeah it looks really nice."

"Now we have to get some towels and dry it off."

"Me and the car both."

Gillian walked back over to the porch; she picked up her husband's t-shirt and opened the front door.

"Where are you going?"

"You said you wanted to dry off the Vette." She stepped inside the house and after a few seconds poked her head out. 

"Hey Mac?"

"Yeah?"

MacGyver was dumping out the wash water and wringing out the sponges. He was crouched down but then stood up when he heard his wife call out to him. He turned in the direction of the front door. "What?"

Gillian grinned and tossed him something. "As you wish." 

Mac caught it; he saw that it was her bikini top. This made him smile. "You are _such_ a wicked woman."

"I know, but you _love_ it." She curled her finger at him.

Her husband decided that the sun could dry off the Corvette; he ran into the house slamming the door behind him.

Min was standing in her kitchen, she had scattered the ingredients to make fruit salad on top of the white and blue flower tiled countertop. She had decided to make something to take over to Mac and Gillian's house despite the fact that Mac told her she didn't have to. She was plucking red grapes from a small branch, adding them to her large metal bowl when a pair of hands encircled her. She gasped as she touched them.

"What are you making?" A deep voice spoke into her ear and kissed it gently.

"Ambrosia Salad." She glanced over her shoulder at her husband. "Evan?"

"He fell asleep in his swing."

Johnny peeked over her shoulder and looked down into her bowl. "Isn't that just another way to say Fancy Fruit Salad?" 

Min opened up a can of pineapple chunks and handed it to her husband. "Yeah pretty much, can you drain this for me?"

Johnny walked around his wife; he stood over the sink and drained the juice. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Min took the can from her husband; she kissed him on the cheek.

Her husband looked her up and down. "Is that what you are going to wear to their house?"

Min put the pineapple in her salad; she stopped and looked down at her clothes. "What's wrong with it?" The young woman had on a pair of jean shorts and a dark blue t-shirt. 

"Well for one you have gotten yourself full of fruit juice." He reached out and touched a large spot on the bottom of her shirt.

"Oh great." Min sighed as she touched her fingers to the wet spot and sniffed it. "It's that syrup they put in with the fruit cocktail." She had inadvertently splashed herself with the juice when she drained the can.

"Don't worry about it, just change your shirt." He stepped back. "What about me?"

Min smiled as she looked at her husband, he had changed into a bright red t-shirt that had across it in big black letters. **Firemen… find 'em smokin', leave 'em soakin. He had on bright red shorts that matched.**

"I think you look great." She took a step towards him and kissed his lips.

Johnny grinned at his wife. "Thanks, I can't wait to see Mac and Gillian; it's been awhile since we got together with them."

"Yeah it has, especially when he had to hideout from that Carson guy." Min added a bag of mini marshmallows to her salad. She picked up a container of whipped topping and started spooning it out. "Honey can you get that bag of coconut flakes out of the pantry?"

"Sure." Johnny walked behind his wife, putting his hands on her hips as he slinked by her. He saw a bag of coconut flakes sitting on the third shelf. "Anything else?" He picked up the bag and handed it to her.

"No that's it, what time is it?"

Min tore open the top of the bag and sprinkled about a quarter of the bag into her bowl. He picked up her spoon and started stirring everything together. 

"Almost 6." Johnny leaned against the counter, he was watching his wife. He stuck his finger into her bowl and tried to sample some of the salad.

Min saw his fingers and she lifted her wooden spoon up, threatening to smack her husband on his hand. "Get those dirty fingers out of my salad!"

"They aren't dirty, I just washed them."

"Uh huh sure you did."

Johnny was smiling at his wife. "I just wanted to try some of your _delicious_ salad." He fluttered his eyelashes at his wife. "Please?"

Min sighed; her husband's dark eyes were gazing at her. She scooped some of the salad onto her spoon and offered it to him. "Here, go ahead and try it."

"Thanks." He took the spoon from his wife and ate the salad, he closed his eyes. "Oh man that's good! You should make it more often."

"Thanks, I just hope Mac and Gillian like it."

Johnny licked the spoon again. "Oh I'm sure they will."

Min had put her fruit salad in a smaller bowl; she had barely closed the lid when the sound of a baby crying reached her ears. She turned around and put the blue bowl into the fridge. 

"I'm coming Ev."

Min was alone in the kitchen; Johnny was out in the garage packing the baby's portable playpen and swing into the Land Rover. She opened the French doors and walked out of them, Evan's swing was beside the couch. The little boy was dressed in a light blue bodysuit that had the symbol of the Phoenix Foundation on it; it had been a gift from his Uncle Mac and Aunt Gillian. The baby was crying, his little fists waving in the air, his face was red.

"Oh hey now it's all right."

Min gently picked up her son and held him to her chest. "Shh, it's okay Baby. I'm here; your Mommy's got you."

The little boy was snuggled against his mother; he finally started to calm down. Min smiled as she gently kissed her son on his head. "See, you're safe Baby, it's all right." She was moving from side to side, rocking her son.

"Is he okay?" Johnny too had heard his son crying, he came back into the house to check on him.

"Yeah he's fine, just woke up upset that's all." Min pulled her son away from her chest; she held him up and looked into his face. "Right?" 

Evan was gazing at his mother, she made a face at him and he smiled at her. He reached out and touched her mouth. Min kissed his little fingers.

"See Honey he's okay, probably had a bad dream or something."

Min carried her son over to her father and handed his son to him. "See Evan; tell your daddy you're okay."

Johnny lifted his son in the air and kissed his cheek, he made a face at him. "Know where we are going? To see your Uncle Mac and Aunt Gillian. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Min and Johnny were standing in front of the white wrought iron door. Johnny was holding his son in his arms as he reached out and pressed the doorbell.

"I hope we aren't too early." 

Johnny switched his son from his right arm to his left. "Nah, its only 6 30."

The wooden door opened and the couple saw MacGyver through the screen. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself strangers!"  He unlocked the wrought iron door and stepped back. "Come on in!"

Johnny was the first one to step inside the house, he saw the t-shirt his friend was wearing and it made him laugh. MacGyver's t-shirt was a turquoise green, with big black letters that read. **Mac trucks can go all night… Satisfaction guaranteed. **

The fireman shook his head. "You are getting as bad as me with the t-shirts." 

The two men shook hands. "I wore this just for you." Mac touched Evan on his face. "Hey Ev."

Min was right behind her husband, she stepped over the threshold. "Hey Mac." The young woman hugged her friend.

"Hi Min, how are you? How's the club?" MacGyver returned her embrace.

"Good, both me and the club."  She handed him the blue bowl with the lid. "I brought dessert."

MacGyver took the bowl from her. "Great, I'll put this in the fridge." He closed the door behind them.

"Where's Gill?" Min walked into the living room and set her purse down on the coffee table.

"I'm right here!" 

Gillian emerged from the garage, she had the little rotisserie oven in her hands, she set it down on the counter. She saw her friend and smiled at him. "Hi Johnny, great t-shirt." 

MacGyver closed the fridge door. "Can I hold Evan?"

"Sure." Johnny handed his son over to his friend and hugged Gillian. "It's good to see you Gill."

"Same here, I'm sorry it's been so long." Gillian put her arms around the dark haired man.

"Yeah I know Mac told us about his death."

Min came into the kitchen where everyone else was. "I bet that was wild, having to bury your husband."

Gillian let go of the paramedic. "Oh yeah it was a joy." She walked over to Min and the two women hugged.

"At least it wasn't a real funeral."

"It still didn't make it any easier."

The greeting hug was over and the red haired woman smiled when she saw the baby in her husband's arms. "Man he's growing like a weed."

MacGyver was holding Evan with his arms across the little boy's chest; he leaned over close to the baby's ear. "Tell her I'm supposed to grow Aunt Gill; I can't stay a baby forever."

Min started laughing and shook her head. "No he can't but I just wish he would stay a baby just a little while longer."

Johnny nodded. "She's right; he's changing so fast it's not funny. I know I'm going to wake up one morning and he's going to be asking me to borrow my car."

"Oh come on he's not growing _that fast. It's not like he's going to start shaving tomorrow." Mac kissed the little baby on top of his head. "Right Ev?"_

The baby boy looked up at his uncle and touched his lips; he gave the blond man a smile.

MacGyver gave the little boy a hug. "See, he agrees with me."

The rotisserie oven had worked great; the two chickens they roasted had turned out tender and juicy. Gillian took the meat off the bone and had made all the fixings for chicken fajitas. She had sour cream, homemade salsa, grilled onions and bell peppers. She had even made flour tortillas, rice and beans and had put everything in the center of the dining room table along with some sliced avocado, lettuce and tomato. It was fiesta night in the MacGyver house; the 4 people were sitting around the table making their own chicken fajitas. 

MacGyver was licking his fingers as he reached across the table and spooned more of his wife's homemade salsa into his tortilla.  "This was a great idea Gill, and a whole lot more fun then just boring roasted chicken."

His wife smiled at him as she added sour cream to her fajita. "Yeah I thought it would be something different."

Johnny wiped his mouth with a napkin. "You're right it is, we _never_ do stuff like this at the station house. We need to though just to do something different." He looked at his friends. "Oh by the way, we got the thank you notes, the guys really appreciated them."

"We just wanted you all to know how grateful we were for the stuff you guys sent." Mac started laughing and shook his head. "I'm a fireman."

Min had a drink of her ice tea. "Yeah well it's not just a job, it's an adventure." She gave her blond headed friend a wink.

MacGyver shook his head. "Oh I have plenty of adventures just being an Operative."

"And a husband." Gillian had to add her own opinion in, she grinned at her husband.

Mac raised an eyebrow at his wife. "Yes, so far it _has been and we have only been married for almost 2 years."_

Min looked beside her at Gillian. "You're right about that Gill; marriage _is_ the greatest adventure one can have."

Johnny turned to his right looking at the only other husband at the table. "Hey Mac, do you hear the way these two women are talking?"

MacGyver wiped his mouth. "Yeah I hear them; they seem to think we are like Indiana Jones or something."

Gillian giggled. "You are, minus the whip and hat of course."

Min cleared her throat. "Let's face facts; you two are _not what I would call normal husbands."_

Johnny put his hand to his chest. "Me? Not normal?" He looked at MacGyver feigning outrage. "I don't know what to say!"

Mac put his hand on his friend's back and patted it. He shook his head slowly. "I feel for you Pal, they said I wasn't normal _either." He hung his head and sighed._

Gillian and Min both looked at each other. "Say Gill, got any plates? There is an awful lot of ham piling up here."

"Yeah I got plates but at this rate we will need a dump truck." She picked up a napkin, waded it up and tossed it at her husband's head. "Oh stop it Mac, the acting awards have already been passed out this year."

The two men lifted their drooping heads; they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Gillian and Min were standing at the counter, they had taken out the fruit salad Min had brought and were getting ready to pass it out. Johnny came back into the kitchen; he had just put Evan to bed. Min saw her husband.

"He didn't wake up did he?"

"Nope, he never even flinched. I just laid him down and covered him up."

"Oh good."

Min got 4 bowls out of the cupboard; the 4 spoons were lying on the counter next to the blue bowl. Gillian scooped out two bowls worth of the salad. 

"Here you go guys, enjoy."

"Thank you." Mac smiled as his wife as he took the bowl from her.

"You're welcome." She handed her husband a spoon and shot him a quick wink. He walked into the living room.

"And one for the paramedic." Gillian handed one to Johnny.

"Thank you Gill."

Min handed her husband a spoon and he too walked into the living room.

Gillian picked up another bowl and filled it with the fruit salad. "Here you go Min."

"Thanks Gill." She picked a spoon and took a bite of it. "It came out better than I thought."

Gillian finally served herself some; she put the empty bowl in the sink and filled it with water. She turned off the faucets and picked up her bowl, sniffing the salad. "Smells great, what's in it?"

Min took a bite of her salad. "Nothing fancy, just some dessert topping, grapes, some cans of fruit, a small bag of marshmallows and some coconut."

The word coconut made Gillian stop in her tracks. "Did you say coconut?"

The young dark haired woman nodded. "Yeah."

Gillian swallowed hard and put her bowl down; she looked over at her husband and saw he was chewing. She started walking towards him. "Mac…"

MacGyver looked up at her; a strange look crossed his face. He looked down a moment and swallowed hard. He touched his hand to his throat and the 3 other people in the room watched as his face went instantly red. He looked up at his wife, the bowl of fruit salad dropping from his hands.

Johnny creased his brow, he watched his friend turn red. He recognized what was happening and stood up. "Mac?"

Gillian turned and ran from the room; she went into her bedroom and grabbed her purse.

Min didn't understand what was going on. "Johnny, what's happening?"

MacGyver started wheezing, he was grabbing at his throat. He stood up and started to sink to the floor.

Johnny grabbed him and laid him down on the carpeting. "Gillian! He's going into anaphylactic shock!"

Mac was looking at the paramedic with wide eyes that were full of terror and panic. He couldn't breathe and he was clawing at his throat.

Min crouched down beside her husband. "What is going on?"

Johnny looked at his wife. "He's having a severe allergic reaction to something."

The red haired woman returned with her purse, she dumped its contents onto the floor and rummaged through them. She picked up a yellow epinephrine pen and pulled off the grey safety cap. "Here! Give it to him fast!"

Johnny pulled up the pant leg on his friend's black shorts, exposing his thigh. He pressed the pen against his leg hard; he held it for about 10 seconds. He checked the pen and saw the adrenaline had been injected. "It went in but we might need another."

"I have one more here and a whole box in the garage."

Min swallowed hard. "What is he allergic too?"

Gillian's heart was racing as she watched her husband struggle to breathe. "The coconut in the salad."

Min gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God…" She closed her eyes briefly.

The paramedic was watching his friend; he was still having a hard time breathing. 

"Give me the other pen Gill." 

Johnny gave Mac the other injection and touched his hand to his jeans pocket. "Min, I need you to go get my kit from the Land Rover."  

He gave his keys to his wife, she simply staring at her friend. Mac's eyes were open but he was still red faced and wheezing.  

Johnny saw his wife was not listening to him, he touched her arm. "Min, my kit."

The young woman finally heard him; she took his keys and went to get his medical kit.

Gillian was stroking her husband's hair; he was fighting to stay conscious. She could see the fear in his dark eyes as they slowly opened and closed. "It's going to be okay Mac, don't worry."

The adrenaline from the pens was kicking in; he was calming down and beginning to breathe easier. This was a huge relief to her.

Min returned with the medical kit, handing it to her husband. Johnny opened it and started rummaging through it. "Gill do you have any antihistamine? Like over the counter allergy medicine?"

"Yeah we have some diphenhydramine in the medicine cabinet in our bathroom."

Johnny nodded. "That'll work, get them and bring them here." He got up from the floor and walked into the kitchen, he started dialing the number to Rampart Emergency.

Gillian got the tablets out of the bathroom and showed them to the paramedic. "Good, give him a regular dose." 

"Okay." She got a small glass out of the pantry and filled it with water.

Johnny put the phone on his ear. "Hi Dr. Brackett, its Johnny."

"Hey Johnny, what's up?"

The paramedic sighed. "Listen Doc I have a friend here going into anaphylactic shock. I gave him two epinephrine injections and 500 mgs of diphenhydramine."

"How's his breathing?"

"Good, it's not normal but he's getting air okay."

"All right, give him a Ringers Lactate IV, got any oxygen?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah I got a mini tank in my kit."

"Good, give him the oxygen and the IV and watch his pressure. If his breathing and his pressure normalize you won't have to bring him in but if he gets worse, get him in here. Okay?"

"Yeah Doc I got it, thanks."

"Sounds like you do Johnny, keep me posted."

"I will, bye."

Johnny hung up the phone and walked back into the living room. "Gill, give him a Ringers Lactate IV and get that mini tank out of there."

Gillian had given her husband two allergy pills. She started getting everything she would need out of the medical kit for the IV. Johnny sat down beside his friend and took the mini tank from her. He looked down at his friend. MacGyver was being very still, a drowsy look in his face. His eyelids were looking heavier with each passing moment.

"Mac, I'm going to give you some oxygen to help you breathe, just try and take normal breaths."

He slipped the mask over his face and held it, he slowly turned the knob and the loud hiss of oxygen rang out. 

Gillian swabbed her husband's right arm with alcohol and sunk the IV needle into his arm as gently as she could. He did not even flinch; he was starting to drift into unconsciousness. 

Min was kneeling on the floor, she was holding her friend's hand, there were wet marks down her face.

Gillian saw how upset she was but right now that was the least of her problems. She looked down at her husband and watched as his eyes slowly closed. They didn't open again, he had finally lost consciousness.

"We need to get him off this floor."

Johnny and Min were both sitting by MacGyver's left side. The paramedic looked at his wife; he reached out and gently touched her arm. Min had her head down, she was very quiet. She was sitting beside her husband, her legs folded under her Indian style.

Gillian nodded; she took the oxygen mask off of Mac's face and was watching her husband breathe. His face was no longer red, now it was slightly pale. She gently touched it before lifting her eyes to look at her friend. 

"Can you lift him or do you need help?"

The dark haired man contemplated this for a moment. "We're both about the same height and build I think I can lift him."

"Okay." Gillian moved back, she was sitting on her husband's right side. She watched as the paramedic stood up, he stepped over Mac with his legs on either side of him. He crouched down and grabbed MacGyver by his right wrist, he pulled on it sitting the blond man up. 

"Okay, let's see if I can do this."

Johnny breathed in and out slowly; he took a deep breath and bent over a little pulling Mac's wrist and laying him across his shoulders. The paramedic sighed. "Well that was the easy part, standing up is going to be the hard part."

Gillian reached out and put her hands on Johnny's waist. "I'll help you."

"I could probably use it."

Johnny took another deep breath and with Gillian's help he slowly stood up. He put his other hand around his friend's legs. "Well that wasn't too bad; he's a lot lighter than I thought."

"He's not heavy he's just tall." 

Together they walked down the hall and into the master bedroom.

Gillian helped the paramedic lay MacGyver down on the bed. 

"Is Dr. Brackett sure we shouldn't take him in to the ER?"

"Yeah, his exposure was minimal but I do want to check him over and see if he's getting any hives or a rash."  
Gillian nodded and gently lifted her husband's t-shirt; she pulled it over his head and looked down at his chest and stomach. "I don't see anything."

"It might not come right away, sometimes that's the first sign, sometimes it's not." The paramedic stuck his stethoscope into his ears and gently pressed the other end to his friend's chest; he was listening to his heart. "His pulse is still a little fast but it should start calming down once the allergy pills kick in."

Johnny saw a long silver chain; it was hanging on left side of MacGyver's neck. The paramedic picked it up and saw not only a round green stone but a silver dog tag as well. He recognized the medical insignia. He flipped it over and read the back of it.

AI MacGyver

 A +

ALLERGIES : Penicillin, Coconut

The allergy part was stamped in bright red, Johnny looked at Gillian. "Penicillin too huh?"

The young woman nodded. "Yeah." She sighed and gently touched her husband's hair.

Johnny gently put the tag back down and adjusted his necklace. "Don't worry Gill; the worst of it is over."

"So what do we do now?"

The dark haired man checked his watch, it was almost 9 30. "We watch and wait."

Johnny sighed as he took his stethoscope out of his ears. He was checking on his patient once more, his professionally trained ears were listening to MacGyver's heart. His pulse and breathing were pretty much back to normal and there were no more signs of the anaphylactic shock. He was lying on his back peacefully sleeping. Gillian was sitting on the bed next to him, leaning against the headboard. She was holding his left hand in hers, dozing lightly. She had been watching her husband carefully and had finally dropped off.  Johnny straightened up; he had his stethoscope in his hand as he walked around the bed. He reached out and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Gillian?"

The young woman gasped, her eyes flew open. "Mac?" She turned and saw it was her friend. "Oh, it's you Johnny." She rubbed her hand across her eyes.

"Yeah it's me, I just checked on him. Everything is back to the way it should be. I think we got it."

Gillian sighed and uncovered her eyes. "Good." She lifted Mac's hand and gently kissed it. "I'm so glad."

The paramedic nodded. "Me too, things were a little tense for a while."

"Yeah, they were." Gillian looked at her friend fondly. "Thanks Johnny, if you hadn't been here..." She turned her head away from him and closed her eyes.

Johnny touched her fingers to the young woman's chin and turned her face back towards him. "Mac is going to be just fine Gill, it's over okay?"

"I know he is." She smiled at him. "What do you say to a cup of hot coffee?"

Johnny grinned at the young woman. "I'd say you're on."

Gillian gently laid her husband's hand down on the bed beside him. "You get some rest Baby, I'll be right back." She reached out and stroked his hair a few times before leaning over and kissing his lips.

Gillian and Johnny were sitting at the dining room table. Johnny was drinking coffee and Gillian had a cup of hot tea.  They were the only people awake in the house, because of MacGyver the couple and their son were staying the night.

"Well that wasn't exactly how I imagined us celebrating Mac's promotion." Gillian added a little more honey to her tea and stirred it with a spoon. 

Johnny nodded. "Yeah I know what you mean." The paramedic eyed the young woman. "That is very smart of him to have that tag. A lot of people don't have them when they need to, especially because of the penicillin."

Gillian nodded. "Believe it or not it that tag is new. I bought it for him after our first anniversary."

Johnny had a sip of his black coffee. "What did he have up until then?"

"He had a keychain and a card in his wallet. I told him the tag for his necklace was a better idea."

The paramedic put his cup down. "The tag or the bracelet is much better, that is the first thing doctors and nurses look for."

Gillian sighed and rubbed her hands down her face, she was exhausted. "I'm so worn out Johnny, I feel like I can drop right here at this table."

The paramedic reached out and touched her on the arm. "I know, you can get plenty of rest as soon as he wakes up."

"Believe me; I will feel a whole lot better when he wakes up." Gillian smiled at her friend and patted his hand.

MacGyver slowly opened his eyes, his mouth was dry and his head was pounding as he looked around. He was in his bedroom.

"Hi."

He turned to his left and saw his wife. She was sitting beside him, smiling widely. 

"Hi." Mac took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What time is it?"

Gillian was very happy her husband was awake, she sighed. "The middle of the night."

"How long was I out?"

"It's been a few hours." Gillian leaned forward, putting her forehead down on his shoulder. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been flattened by an 18 wheeler."

"Yeah well you were, the coconut fruit salad express."

MacGyver sighed and rubbed his face. "I didn't even know coconut was in that salad Gillian. There was so much other stuff I couldn't see it or taste it." He thought about Min, he remembered how upset she was during his attack. "Is Min okay?"

Gillian lifted her head and looked at her husband. "She was pretty upset Mac, it took Johnny a lot of coaxing to get her to go to bed."

"It wasn't her fault."

"I know that but she doesn't."

Mac sat up on his elbows. "Am I okay? Do we have to go to the hospital?" He was looking down at his chest and he lifted his arms. He noticed there was a Band-Aid on his right arm from where his IV had been but he didn't see any signs of hives or a rash anywhere.

"No, Johnny checked with Dr. Brackett. He said we only need to take you if your symptoms return. That's why he and I have been watching you really closely for the past few hours." She reached out and gently touched her husband's face. "You scared the hell out of me."

MacGyver laid back down on the bed, he picked up her hand from his cheek. "You weren't the only one scared; all of a sudden I couldn't breathe."

Gillian got a flash of his red face and she squeezed her eyes against it. "I know, but between the epinephrine pens and the diphenhydramine, we managed to get it under control fast." She sighed. "Dr. Brackett said that the fact you only had maybe two spoonfuls helped. It might have been worse if you had eaten more of it."

"Yeah, worse as in 6 feet under."

Gillian put her fingers on her husband's lips briefly. "Please… don't talk like that I think I've had enough excitement and fun for one night."

Mac gave his wife a small smile. "I'm sorry." He had her hand still, he tugged at her wrist.

Gillian stretched out beside her husband; she let him pull her close to him. Their eyes met briefly before holding one another tightly. 

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The couple ended their hug; Gillian wiped her eyes causally and turned to see Johnny standing at the door. "No, of course you aren't."

He stepped into the room. "Well I see my patient is up." He looked at MacGyver and smiled, he was glad his friend was awake. "How do you feel?"

Mac sighed. "Not bad."

Johnny nodded. "Good, I just talked to Dr. Brackett he said since your pulse, breathing and blood pressure have returned to normal we don't have to take you to Rampart."

MacGyver sat up slowly, his body felt stiff. He leaned against the headboard. "Oh that's good."

The paramedic moved over to the edge of the bed and sat down. "Mac, even though Dr. Brackett said we don't need to take you in you really _should_ go get checked out in the morning."

Mac sighed and rubbed his eyes, he was beginning to get tired. "I know, that's probably a good idea."

Johnny folded his hands in his lap. "Yes it is, true I was working under the advice of a doctor but just as a precaution and to set my mind at ease, go to Rampart."

Gillian reached out and took her husband's hand. "He's right Mac, we have to be sure you really are okay."

MacGyver sighed; he was looking at both Gillian and Johnny. He knew they were only concerned about him. "All right, I promise. We'll go to Rampart in the morning." He stuck out his hand to Johnny.  "Thanks, for everything. I owe you big time."

Johnny shook his friend's hand. "No you don't, if the situation was reversed you would have helped me."

Mac smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah I would have."

The paramedic smiled widely at his friend. "Now that we have that settled, want some coconut macaroon cookies?"

Both Gillian and MacGyver turned and looked at their friend. Mac narrowed his eyes at the fireman. "Oh very funny, you are hilarious."

Min was sleeping in one of the spare rooms; it was the Southwestern one she had slept in during the LAFD strike. Evan was in the same room with her in his playpen. The young woman had felt terrible for what had happened to her friend, it had taken a long time for her to finally go to sleep. 

Johnny left the couple alone; he opened the spare room door and saw his wife lying in the bed despite how dim the room was. There was not much moonlight coming in through the window. She was on her side facing away from the door. He had his stethoscope tucked into his pocket; he set it down on the nightstand and kicked off his tennis shoes. He pulled off his socks and climbed onto the bed, curling up next to his wife.

"How's MacGyver?"

Johnny started; he didn't think she was awake. She rolled over and faced him; he was waiting for him to answer the question. "He's going to be fine, he just woke up."

The young woman sighed; she laid flat on her back and rubbed her hands down her face. She covered her mouth and breathed through it. "I'm so glad Johnny."

The paramedic propped himself up on one elbow, he leaned over his wife. He could see that she was still guilt ridden about what had happened to MacGyver. "Min, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know he was allergic to coconut."

Min bit her lip and turned to look at her husband. "He could have _died_. I could have killed my friend with fruit salad."

Johnny cleared his throat, trying not to laugh at the odd statement she made. "He's going to be fine and I seriously doubt he's going to be angry or upset at you."

"He'd have a right to be, if he never talks to me again I wouldn't blame him one bit." Min started getting upset; her husband could see it in her face. 

"Min…" He shook his head as he reached out and hugged his wife to his chest, stroking her hair.

Gillian opened her eyes; she sat up and looked down at her husband. She watched his chest move up and down for a brief moment. She had purposely left the light on in the bathroom so she could see him breathe.

"What's wrong?" MacGyver rolled over onto his side. 

His wife sighed and wiped her hand down her face. "Min is very upset over what happened to you Mac, I can feel it. She thinks that you won't want to be her friend anymore."

MacGyver rolled over the other way and turned on his lamp. "What?"

Gillian squeezed her eyes shut as the bright light filled the room. "She thinks you won't talk to her ever again."

The blond man shook his head as he sat up slowly. "That's ridiculous! Why would I do that to her? It wasn't her fault."

"I know but that's what she thinks right now."

"Well I think I should set her straight." He swung his legs around the side of the bed and stood up. His legs were a little shaky as he walked towards the door.

Gillian was watching her husband. "Hey now take it easy, you've had a busy day."

"Yeah I know, my legs feel like wet celery stalks."  Mac stopped in front of his dresser; he opened a drawer and took out a blue t-shirt. He shrugged it on as he opened the door and walked out into the hall.

Min was not in her bedroom; she had left it and went into the kitchen leaving her son and husband to get some sleep. 

Mac opened the spare room and saw the back of his friend and the other half of the bed was empty. He looked down the hall and saw the light was on in the kitchen.

Min had gotten herself a glass of milk; she was leaning against the sink drinking it. She saw the empty bowl of fruit salad in the sink and she shook her head slowly. She got a flash of Mac lying on the floor, he was wheezing, touching his hands to his chest as he struggled to breath. The young woman shook her head out; she didn't want to think about what had happened. There were many things going through her mind as she walked around the counter and over to the dining room table. She pulled out a chair and sat down. She set her glass of milk down and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. She had her face covered with both of her hands. 

A hand reached out and gently touched the young woman on her right shoulder. Min uncovered her face and put her hand over it.

"I'm sorry if I woke you when I left, I tried to be quiet."

The hand simply squeezed her shoulder. "I know you think I should be sleeping but I can't. Every time I close my eyes I can see Mac dropping his bowl of salad and he's all red." She sighed and curled her fingers around the hand. "He's probably upset at me."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

Min creased her brow, that wasn't the voice of her husband; she turned around and saw it was MacGyver that was squeezing her shoulder. She swallowed hard; she didn't know what to say. She simply got up from the chair and started to leave the kitchen.

MacGyver chased after her. "Min, wait a minute." He walked around the other side of the table and got in front of her. He could see the tears of shame and embarrassment in her eyes.

"Why are you running from me?"

The dark haired woman wiped her face casually. "Why? Because I almost killed you, that's why!"

He licked his lips and pressed them together. "No you didn't."

"Yes I did! You told me not to bring anything but I didn't listen. I brought fruit salad loaded with coconut."

Mac nodded and put his hands on his hips. "Yeah you did, I should have been more careful."

"I shouldn't have brought it in the first place." Min shook her head and turned her back to him. "You could have died; don't you understand what that means?"

He walked around her, facing the young woman once more. "Yeah I know what that means."

Min swallowed hard and wiped her face. "I almost took your life and made your wife a widow, why aren't you angry at me about that?"

MacGyver could see the guilt and shame on her face; he took a step towards her. "Min, I've had this allergy my whole life but up until now I have never really put much thought into it. I simply avoided coconut and I thought that would be enough. Obviously I was wrong." He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "I should have taken my allergy more seriously and I didn't. I guess I never counted on having a lot of people in my life to have to explain it too." He gave her a smile. "I didn't think I would have friends like you and Johnny." He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "So don't go blaming yourself for something you didn't even know about, okay?"

Min sniffled; she could see into her friend's eyes and saw the truth in them. "For what it's worth, I am sorry."

Mac wiped a stray tear from her face. "So am I, you are my friend Min and I _know_ that you would never do anything to hurt me." 

The two friends were standing face to face; they put their arms around each other in a hug.

Min sighed as she had her arms around her friend. "I'm glad you're okay Mac, I mean that."

MacGyver let go of her and took her hands. "I know you do but I _do_ have one little comment to make."

"Okay, what?"

He smiled at his friend and started to laugh. "Well despite what happened I just have to say…" He looked down briefly. "That was _really good fruit salad!"_

Min's eyes grew wide for a second; she saw that he was serious. The young woman bit her lip, she was trying not to laugh but she couldn't help it; she started laughing. "Oh? Well I'm glad you liked it, it was a real _killer_ recipe." 

MacGyver chuckled. "Yeah tell me about it."

The two friends had a good laugh, the pain of the earlier incident starting to fade.

Johnny was whistling as he walked into the kitchen of the fire station, the first thing he saw was his partner.

"Morning."

Roy smiled at his partner as he sipped his coffee. "Morning, how's MacGyver feeling?"

"Oh he's fine, Gillian took him to Rampart yesterday morning and they checked him out." Johnny took a dark brown coffee mug out of the drain board and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat down next to his partner.

"Does he have a medical alert bracelet?"

"No, he's got a dog tag."

Roy nodded. "Well it's never a dull moment is it?"

Johnny looked at his partner and laughed. "No, not really, especially when you are a paramedic."

There was a commotion coming from the bunkhouse, the two paramedics turned in that direction.

"Now what do you suppose that is?"

Roy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, when I got here Cap was on the phone and Chet and Marco were changing sheets."

_"Aw come on Cap that isn't fair!"_

The answer to Johnny's question came into the kitchen. Captain Stanley walked in being followed by Chet. The dark haired fireman was obviously unhappy, he was frowning. Hank sighed as he poured himself a cup of coffee; he opened the fridge and add a little milk to it.

"I'm sorry Chet it wasn't my decision."

Johnny creased his brow. "What's going on?"

Chet scowled at his fellow firefighter. "Cut the innocent act Gage, you know _exactly_ what is going on." He looked at Roy too. "And so do you."

Roy raised both of his eyebrows. "Chet we don't know what you're talking about."

The two paramedics turned their heads and looked at their Captain. 

Hank could see on their faces that the two men were waiting for an explanation. He pulled out a chair and sat down. "All right, I just got off the phone with Chief Forrester; there is a big convention of the Fire Fighters Association taking place next week in Las Vegas. The Chief told me that there are going to be two fireman and two paramedics selected to go as representatives of the LAFD."

Johnny nodded. "So who got chosen?"

Hank cleared his throat. "Well, Richardson and Tanner from Station 12 were selected as the two firemen."

Roy was looking at his Captain. "And the two paramedics?"

The Captain smiled. "I'm looking at them."

Johnny and Roy looked at each other. "Us? We were chosen to go?"

Hank nodded. "Congratulations, out of the 60 paramedics in this city you two got picked."

Chet scoffed. "Yeah how fair is that."

Roy smiled. "I've always wanted go to that convention, I've heard they have demonstrations of new fire fighting techniques and equipment."

"Well this year you get your chance, the tickets and the convention passes will be sent here by the end of the week."

"So how long is this convention?"

Hank sipped his coffee. "It's a week long Johnny."

Johnny smiled. "Sounds like a lot of fun, I can't wait."

Roy nodded his head, a smile breaking out on his face. "Neither can I."

"To Las Vegas!" 

The two paramedics lifted their coffee mugs and clinked them together.

Min was in her office working on the new band schedule. She was in a light pink SKIDZ t-shirt and black jean shorts. She had her sandals off and was working in her bare feet. She lifted her eyes and looked at her son; the little boy was on the dark carpeting. Evan was a little over 5 months and he was beginning to discover that he could move around if he moved his arms and legs. The little boy was slowly learning how to crawl.

Min smiled. "I see you Evan!"

Evan stopped and looked at his mother; the mention of his name had gotten his attention. He had on a white bodysuit and a pair of jean overalls over them. The little boy looked like a mini farmer but he was adorable in them. He was in his bare feet, he sat up briefly and this made his mom smile.

"Evan!" She stopped what she was doing and walked over to him; she bent down and picked him up. "You sat up all by yourself!" She hugged the little boy and kissed him several times. Evan giggled as his mother lavished him with affection. When she finally stopped she touched her forehead to his. 

"Just wait till I tell your daddy!"  
Min put Evan back down on the floor, lying on his stomach. "Okay, go back and play, Mommy has work to do."

The dark haired woman sat back down at her desk and picked up her pen. She started working on her schedule again when her intercom buzzed. She sighed and pushed the button on her phone.

"Yeah Bo?"

"Are you busy Sis?"

"No not really, what's up?"

"I just got something very interesting in the mail."

Min creased her brow and sat back in her chair. "Oh yeah? What?"

"Well I think I better show it to you in person."

"Okay, come on over."

The young woman turned off the intercom and looked over at her son. "What do you think Ev? Think Uncle Bo has something important to show to Mommy?"

Evan was on his side; he rolled onto his back and laughed as he did so. 

Min nodded. "Yeah that's what I think too, but we'll see what he says when he gets here."

She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head.

Bo had his arms crossed over his white muscle shirt; he was watching his sister read the letter he had received in the mail. He was sitting on the edge of his sister's desk. He had on a pair of blue cotton shorts and was thumping his tennis shoes against the side of the wooden desk. Min flipped to the second page, she lifted her eyes from the letter.

"Bo, please… I can't read with you doing that."

The blond haired man sighed. "Sorry, I'm just impatient that's all."

"I know but I want to be sure I get everything that is in this letter."

Bo sighed. "All right just hurry up so we can talk about this."

"I'm getting to it." She looked over at her son, checking on him. "Why don't you go play with Evan, it'll take your mind off of my reading."

"Okay."

Bo walked over to the carpeting and took off his shoes. He bent over and took his socks off. "Hey Ev!" He walked onto the carpet and sat down next to his nephew. The little boy was on his back and Bo gently picked him up and set him down on his lap. "Having fun?"

The dark haired baby gurgled at his Uncle; Bo opened his mouth widely in a dramatic fashion. "Really? You don't say!"

Min looked at her brother and shook her head; she set the letter down on her desk and got up. "All right Bo I'm done."

"And what do you think?"

She walked over to the carpeting and sat down next to her brother. "Well, if this corporation is serious about turning out club into a franchise the least we can do is meet with them."

Bo nodded. "Yeah I already spoke to the one of the executives. He said we can come next week and listen to their proposal."

Min sighed; she reached out and touched her son's hand. "I'll talk to Johnny tonight and see what he says."

"What we need is some legal advice, but we don't have a lawyer."

His little sister nodded. "Yeah but I know someone who has a great lawyer." She stood up and walked back over to her desk.

"Who?"

"Gillian and Mac have Duncan Peterson; he is one of the best. I bet he could give us some great advice." 

Min opened the bottom drawer of her desk and took out her purse. She sat down in her chair and started going through it. "Let's see where did I put that card of Duncan's that Gill gave me?" 

Bo got up from the carpet; he was still holding Evan in his arms. "Just call Gillian."

"Damn." She couldn't find the card; she closed her purse and put it back in the drawer.  "I didn't want to have to call Gillian, when I spoke to her last night she said they were going to spend today at home. She took Mac to Rampart yesterday and Dr. Brackett had advised them to take today and maybe tomorrow off and just rest."

Gillian and MacGyver were having a nice quiet day. They had slept in late and had not really moved much from their big bed. Gillian was treating her husband like a king. She had made him his favorite breakfast, and had gotten all of his favorite movies out of the living room. The couple was watching one of them. MacGyver was in his blue tank top and his blue boxer shorts with the flames on them. He was leaning with his head against his wife's chest. There was a large bruise on the inside of his left arm from where the hospital had taken some blood from him. He extended his arm and looked at the purple area.

"Wow that guy did a job on my arm."

Gillian was frowning; the phlebotomist had not drawn the blood the correct way. That was why her husband had been bruised. "Yeah I know, he was a rookie."

She reached out and touched his arm, looking at it. "I mean you have very good veins Mac, they are right there near the surface. All he had to do was tie one of them off and simply poke you. It's not like wild cat drilling."

MacGyver started laughing. "Red gold."

Gillian wrinkled her nose. "Oh that's charming Sweets, really charming." She was in a blue sports bra and little blue cotton shorts; she kissed her fingertips and touched them to the bruise. "Poor Baby."

"I think I'll live." Mac sighed as he moved his head down. He rubbed his cheek against his wife's bare stomach; the feel of her skin was warm and soothing.

Gillian stroked her husband's hair. "Oh I know that."

The phone started ringing and MacGyver lifted his head. "That better not be Pete."

"I doubt its Pete; he knows you were told by Dr. Brackett to rest."

She stretched out her arm and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi Gill."

Gillian smiled at the sound of her friend's voice. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Not much, how is the Coconut Man?"

The young woman started to laugh. "He's good, resting, and being spoiled rotten by me."

Mac grinned and stuck his tongue out at his wife. Gillian stuck hers out at him and gave him a wink. 

Min laughed. "That's good; you _do realize that if he was ever stranded on a desert island he would starve to death."_

Gillian looked at her husband; she covered her mouth with her hand and started laughing. "Oh man, I hadn't thought about that!"

Mac creased his brow; he wondered what was so funny to his wife. "About what?"

"Hang on a second Min." Gillian covered the phone with her hand. "Min just pointed out that if you were ever stranded on a desert island you'd starve to death because you can't eat the coconuts."

MacGyver's eyebrows went up, his friend was right. "Well she makes a good point." He stretched out his hand and took the phone from his wife and put it to his ear. "You make a good point but allow me to point out to you that there are other things to eat on a desert island besides coconuts."

Min started laughing. "Very true, how are you feeling?"

"Good, pretty lazy at the moment."  Mac put his head back down.

"Yeah so Gillian said." Min was playing with the phone cord. "Say Mac, you guys still have Duncan for your lawyer right?"

"Uh huh, he takes care of ME for us."

"Oh I know that I was just wondering if you had his number."

Mac looked back at his wife. "Umm, let me ask my better half." He moved the phone away from his mouth. "Duncan's number?"

Gillian thought about it for a moment. "Oh man, I knew it until you asked that." She covered her eyes with her hand for a second. "Oh! Yeah its 555- 3254."

He put the phone back up to his mouth. "Min its 555- 3254." 

"Got it, thanks Mac. Bo and I got this letter in the mail from some big corporation. They are interested in turning the club into a franchise. We wanted some advice from a lawyer about it."

Mac nodded. "Yeah then Duncan is definitely the one to call about that. He knows all about that big corporate stuff."

"That's what I thought too." Min smiled. "Okay I better let you two get back to R & R. Thanks for the number."

"No problem, see you later Min."

"Bye Mac."

MacGyver handed the phone to his wife and she hung it up. "Why did Min want Duncan's number?"

"She and Bo got a letter about the club becoming a franchise; she wants to run it by Duncan."

Gillian nodded. "Well Duncan should be able to advise them about it."

"That's what I said too." He yawned widely and closed his eyes.

"Getting tired?"

"A little." He rolled off of his wife and stretched out beside her. "But I'd rather get something to eat then go to sleep."

Gillian took advantage of her husband being on his back; she climbed on top of him and straddled his chest. "You are huh? Okay what do you want to eat?"

Mac shrugged his shoulders; he put his hands on his wife's legs. "Whatever is fine." He started tickling her legs with his fingers, making the young woman squirm.

"Hey Mr. Handsy I thought you said you were hungry not horny."

MacGyver grinned and opened his eyes. "I am, but not necessarily for just food."

The young woman put her hands over his, stopping him in mid caress. "_You_ are supposed to be resting Mr. MacGyver."

"I am, I have been a big slug in this bed all day." He sat up and put his arms around his wife, holding her. "I'm tired of resting; I want to have some fun."

Gillian leaned back and kissed her husband's lips. "Tell you what, we'll have some lunch and maybe take a nap." She smiled at him, touching her hands to his face and gently kissed him twice more. "Then maybe when we wake up we can have some fun, okay?"

MacGyver nodded. "Okay, how about we just have some sandwiches for lunch?"

"How about ham and Swiss cheese?"

"Toasted?"

Gillian sighed and looked at her husband sideways. "Okay, toasted." She shook her head. "You really _are_ spoiled aren't you?"

Mac took the hands from his face and pressed his lips to them both. "Yes I am, I'm spoiled because I have you."

The young woman grinned at the very gentlemanly gesture. "Well, after our nap is over I will be more than happy to show you my appreciation."

"I look forward to that."

"Well I better go make us our lunch."

Gillian kissed her husband and climbed off of him, she left the bedroom to go make their sandwiches.

Min, Bo and Duncan had spent a good portion of the day together. The snowy white haired gentleman in the navy blue pin stripped suit had met them in their club. Min had showed him the letter and he went over every section of it, explaining it to the club owners exactly what it meant.  Bo and Min had listened very carefully to the older man's advice. They had decided together to go to San Francisco to meet with the corporate executives that next week to see what they had to say.

Min had a lot of things to tell her husband when he got home; she was waiting for him in their bedroom, the time on the nightstand clock read that it was 6 15. 

The young woman was sitting on the bed; she had her legs folded under her Indian style. She heard the front door open and the distinct thumping of her husband's work boots as he made his way down the hall. Min smiled when the door slowly opened and Johnny came into the room.

"Hi."

"Hi." Johnny closed the door and walked over to the bed, he smiled at his wife as he sat down next to her and hugged her. "How was your day?"

"Good, I have something to tell you." Min hugged her husband, burying her head in his shoulder.

"So do I."

The couple broke their hug and took each other's hands.

"Okay, you go first." Johnny was letting his wife tell her story first.

Min squeezed his hands. "Well, today in the mail Bo and I got this letter from this company called BayCorp. They are interested in turning Skidz into a franchise."

Johnny's dark eyes grew wide. "Really? You're kidding."

"No I'm not, Bo and I are flying to San Francisco Monday morning to go meet with them."

The paramedic's face went from happy to sad. "Uh oh."

Min creased her brow. "What's wrong?"

"What I was going to tell you. Roy and I were chosen to go to Las Vegas to the Fire Fighters Association Convention. We leave Monday morning too and will be gone a whole week."

The couple looked at each other and sighed. "What are we going to do about Evan?"

Johnny rubbed his hand down his face. "We can't leave him with Bo because of the club."

Min nodded. "And Daisy and Enos are out of town for the next 2 weeks." She covered her eyes briefly. "And JoAnne has two kids of her own much less a small baby to take care of."

Her husband flopped back on the bed. "We have to leave him with someone we can trust."

"Absolutely, it can't be with just anyone." 

Min laid down beside her husband, she was going over a mental list in her mind. She thought of something and sat up fast, turning towards her husband. "Johnny, I think I know who can take care of Evan for us."

The paramedic rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow. "Oh yeah? Who?"

His wife grinned. "You won't believe who I have in mind."

MacGyver and Gillian were sitting in the middle of their living room. The lights had been dimmed and the coffee table had been turned into a mini dining area. There was one large scented candle in a glass holder in the middle of the table. Mac and Gillian were sitting on either side of it. They were eating fettuccine alfredo. The phone began to ring, interrupting their romantic dinner.

Mac turned in the direction of the kitchen. "Uh oh, the phone is ringing." 

Gillian sighed as she looked at her husband. "I know but can't we just ignore it?"

"No, I better get it."

MacGyver got up from the carpeting and walked into the kitchen. He took the cordless phone off the charger. "Hello?" He brought the phone back into the living room. 

"Hi Mac."

"Hey Johnny, what's going on?" He sat back down at the glass table and had a sip of his ice tea. 

"Busy?"

"No, not really."

Johnny laughed on the line. "Well we were wondering if you and Gill were busy this next week."

"I don't think so; things are kind of slow right now since we are going to Egypt the week after next. We don't even have to go in."

Johnny sighed. "That's good because Min and I have a huge favor to ask."

Mac looked at his wife and gave her a wink. "We'll do anything for you guys, you should know that."

"This is pretty big Mac, see both Min and I are going out of town next week and we were kind of wondering if you and Gillian would take care of Evan for us."

MacGyver was taken aback. "You do?" He was genuinely surprised that they would be asked such a special favor.

"Yeah, Evan loves you both and he knows you. Min and I really would feel much better about leaving him if we knew he was in good hands."

The stunned blond man licked his lips and pressed them together. "Johnny I don't know what to say." He widened his eyes at his wife briefly.  "Hang on let me consult Gillian about this."

"Sure go ahead."

He covered the phone with his hand. "Johnny is on the phone. He wants to know if we will take care of Evan for them next week."

Gillian was also surprised by this. "Did I hear you right? They want to leave Evan with us?"

Mac nodded at his wife. "Surprising isn't it?" He wiped his mouth. "What do you think Gill, can we take care of a 5 and a half month old?"

Gillian thought about it and smiled. "Sure we can do it; it'd be a lot of fun."

Her husband thought about it and nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah you're right, it will be fun. I'll tell Johnny we'll do it."

"Okay."

MacGyver uncovered the phone. "Johnny?"

"Yeah I'm here Mac."

"Don't worry about next week, Gill and I will be more than happy to take care of Evan."

The paramedic sighed loudly. "Thanks Mac, this is a really big load off of our minds. We'll call you at the end of the week."

Mac nodded. "Okay Johnny, talk to you then, bye."

He hung up the phone and went back into the living room. He sat back down at the coffee table and smiled at his wife. He reached across the table and took her hand. "Now, where were we?"

It was Friday night and Min and Johnny had brought Evan over to talk to MacGyver and Gillian about taking care of their son. Johnny and Min had written down their son's usual routine on a piece of paper and were talking to the couple about it. The 4 some were in the living room, Johnny and Min were sitting on the loveseat and MacGyver, Gillian and Evan were on the couch. Gillian was holding Evan on her lap. The little baby boy was in a white bodysuit. MacGyver had his arm slung across the back of the couch; he reached out and touched the little boy's right hand.

"So he's normally awake by 7 30?"

Min leaned back in the loveseat and crossed her legs. "Right, between 7 30 and 8."

MacGyver nodded and looked at Evan. "You're an early riser?" He leaned close to the baby's ear. "So am I."

Johnny smiled. "We gave you his feeding routine, that shouldn't be a problem he's a good eater." He glanced at his wife. "He gets that from his mother."

Min's mouth dropped open. "Me? I don't think so."

The paramedic grinned widely at his wife and cleared his throat. "Like I said you shouldn't have any problems."

Gillian couldn't help but laugh at the antics of her friends. "What about baths and stuff? Do you give him one every night before bed?"

Evan's mother was giving her husband a look, one that promised he was going to pay later for his comments. "Yeah, it helps him relax for bedtime."

MacGyver took Evan from his wife and set the little boy down on his lap. "Do you use anything special for it?"

"We have some bath stuff, don't worry we just bought a new bottle of it for you guys to use."

Min hung her head for a moment and took a deep breath. Johnny heard her and picked up her hand and held it. "Yeah so you won't have to worry about running out. We also just bought a new bag of diapers."

MacGyver and Gillian looked at each other; they could tell that leaving their son behind was not going to be easy on either one of them. Mac cleared his throat.

"You know, you two aren't leaving until Monday. I know you were going to leave Evan here this weekend so he'll get used to us." He glanced at his wife. "Why don't you guys stay too? That way you can check to make sure we do everything okay and it'll be easier for everyone to adjust to this coming week."

Gillian nodded. "Right, you guys can sort of stay in the background."

Min lifted her head. "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

MacGyver looked at his friend sideways. "No of course we don't mind. What are we going to do? Deny you the right to be here with your son?"

Johnny sighed. "It _would_ make me feel better if we were here."

Gillian smiled. "Good, it's settled then." She checked her watch, it was almost 7. "Well if you all will excuse me, I better go see what we can have for dinner."

Mac nodded as he held Evan. "Go ahead Gill I'll make sure the spare bed is clean and help them get settled in."

"Okay." Gillian winked at her husband and got up from the couch.

Gillian had decided to make taco salad, it was big enough to feed 4 people and it was quick and easy to make. She was putting the final touches on it, adding the hamburger meat and sprinkling the salad mixture with shredded cheese. 

"_Something _smells great in here, what are you making?"

Johnny had changed out of his uniform, he was in a blue t-shirt and black shorts. He walked over and stood beside the counter and watched as Gillian mixed the salad together in the large clear bowl.

"Taco salad."

"So what's in it?"

Gillian put the lid on it and the bowl and sealed it. "Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, grounded beef, green chilies, black olives, avocado, shredded cheese and tortilla chips." She turned and handed the bowl to the paramedic. "Can you please put this in the fridge for me?"

Johnny took the bowl from her. "Sure." He did an about face and opened the fridge, slipping the bowl onto the middle shelf.

Gillian turned on the faucet and started washing her hands. "So where is Mac and Min?" She saw the way her friend was poking around in the fridge. "Johnny if you want a soda or something help yourself. There's no need to be shy."

The paramedic got out a soda and closed the fridge. "They're giving Evan a bath."

MacGyver was laughing as he wiped some water from his face. He was kneeling beside the bathtub in the master bathroom; Min was sitting on the toilet behind him. She was watching as her friend bathed her son.

Evan was lying in his snow white tub; it had a special sling to prop him up since he was not sitting up on his own yet. The baby boy was grinning as he kicked his legs and splashed the water with his hands. He had gotten his uncle right on the face a few times.

"Hey now I'm not the one getting bathed, you are."

The baby giggled as he touched his hands to the soap and tried to eat it.

"Now now, don't eat that, it probably tastes terrible." 

Mac splashed some water on the baby's hand, rinsing the soap off. He picked up a washcloth and added a few drops of soap to it. He was washing the little boy's arms and legs with it. 

Min smiled as she watched her friend. "Yeah that tends to happen, you are going to end up wetter than he is."

"I am already I think."

MacGyver rinsed out the washcloth and picked up the bottle of baby shampoo.  He put a tiny amount in his right hand and began to wash the little boy's hair. He was smiling at the baby. "This is fun, wet, but fun." He was being careful not to get any in Evan's eyes. 

"He seems to be having a great time." Min made a face at her son over her friend's shoulder. "Splash your uncle again Evan, I don't think he's wet enough." The baby smiled at his mother as he moved around; sloshing the water he was lying in.

"Don't listen to her Ev, I'm already wet enough to participate in a wet t-shirt contest."  

MacGyver was telling the truth, his light grey t-shirt was now almost completely soaked down the front of it. He picked up a cup and scooped some water into it and began to rinse the shampoo from Evan's dark hair. When he felt it was rinsed he carefully put his hand under the baby boy's back. He put his other hand on his chest and carefully sat him up. He picked up the washcloth and wiped down the back of the 5 month old.  Evan looked down at the hand on him and put his little hand over his uncle's fingers. He had a look of curiosity on his face.

"We have to make sure you are nice and clean." He wrung out the cloth, letting the soapy water run down his little back. 

MacGyver eased the little boy back down and wrung out the cloth again, wiping his little face. "There, I think we are done." He turned and looked at the little boy's mother. "What do you think Mom?"

Min leaned over and looked at her son, he looked nice and clean. She looked at her friend and smiled at him. "What do I think? I think one day you are going to make a great dad."

Mac could feel his face flush at the compliment. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She stood up and opened a white towel. "Okay, let's get him out of there."

MacGyver pulled the plug on the bottom of the tub; he carefully lifted Evan out of the water and held him out. Min wrapped the towel around her son. "There."

Mac cradled the baby to his chest as they walked out of the bathroom. 

Gillian and Johnny walked into the master bedroom just in time. Mac had Evan lying in his white towel on top of their bed. He was drying the baby off while his mother went to get a clean diaper for him and his pajamas. 

"Looks like someone took the hose to you Mac."

Her husband was bent over, gently patting the little boy's head. "In a way I was, but it wasn't a hose it was a 5 month old." 

"Here you go Mac."

Min walked back into the room and handed her friend a fresh diaper and a pair of blue pajamas.  The blond man took the diaper and the pajamas. He set the pajamas down and lifted the baby, putting the diaper under him. He could feel three pairs of eyes on him and he turned around. 

"Okay what's with the eyes? Why am I suddenly being gawked at?"

Gillian cleared her throat. "Well I was just curious to see if you knew how to put a diaper on a baby, that's all."

Min and Johnny nodded their heads. "So were we."

Mac sighed and shook his head, he turned back around. "Can you believe this Ev? Suddenly I'm the center of attention." He folded the diaper over the little boy's waist and secured it with the tapes.

"There, are you all satisfied?"

Gillian grinned and patted her husband on the back. "Very _good Sweetie I had no idea you knew how to do that."_

"Remind me to tell you about the time Jack thought he had a son. That's how I got to learn all about changing diapers." MacGyver put the pajamas on Evan and snapped them closed. He picked the baby up and took a comb off of his dresser, he gently combed his hair. "Finished, now you are all ready for that hot date."

Min smiled and shook her head. "I think he might be a little too _young_ for dating Mac."

Mac shrugged his shoulders. "Train them while they are young." He looked down at the baby. "Right Evan?"

The little boy only smiled at his Uncle. 

Mac and Gillian had set up the playpen in their bedroom, when 8 o'clock came they gently laid Evan down in it and gave him his bottle. They covered him with a light blanket and quietly left the room, closing the door as they did so. The two couples were hungry and decided to have the taco salad that Gillian had made a little while earlier. Johnny was being served his second helping; his wife only shook her head at him.

"Oh but Evan gets his healthy appetite from _me?"_

The paramedic only grinned. "Yes he does."

His wife narrowed her eyes at him and turned to her two friends. "You guys have two spare rooms right?"

Mac was sitting next to the paramedic; he glanced at his friend and shook his head. "Uh oh Johnny, looks like you are in the dog house."

Johnny only shrugged his shoulders as he started eating his salad. "Oh well, that's okay, it'll mean I can have plenty of blanket and room to sleep."

MacGyver nodded. "You too? And here I though I suffered alone."

Gillian gasped and her mouth dropped open slightly. "Exactly what are you saying Mac?" She folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

Min leaned in close to the woman sitting next to her. "I think he means you are both a bed _and_ blanket hog Gillian."

The redhead nodded slowly. "I see… it looks like someone is going to be bunking on the _couch_ since I am so terrible to sleep with."

Her husband smiled. "I never said you were terrible to sleep with, quite the opposite."

Johnny looked at his wife. "Right, and neither are you Min."

The two women looked at each other. "What do you think, are they telling the truth?"

Gillian sighed. "Well, maybe, either that or they are just afraid we'll make good with our threats and they'll have to sleep alone."

Min had a sip of her ice tea. "I don't know Gill; they _could be using their charm on us." She glanced at her husband. He gave her a crooked grin and it made her heart start beating hard. "He's awfully cute; I might have to believe him."_

Gillian was looking at MacGyver. "And so is mine, I can never resist that handsome face."

"So what do we do?"

The young woman with red hair turned and looked at her friend. "Simple, we punish them." Her dark eyes focused on her husband. "We punish them well."

Min nodded her head in approval. "You are so right." She couldn't wait to get her husband alone.

MacGyver and Johnny turned towards each other, both men just grinned. The evening promised to be an interesting one.

Gillian came into the dining area carrying a brand new pack of playing cards and a black fanny pack. She sat down at the table and unwrapped the cards. She set the deck down and unzipped the fanny pack. 

"Okay let's see what we have in here." She took out 4 bundles of one dollar bills and started passing them out.

"One for me, one for Min, one for Johnny and at last one for my darling husband."

Mac picked up his bundle and looked at how thick the stack was. "How much is here Gill?"

"A hundred."

Min looked down at her bundle. "A hundred? Gill when you said we were going to play poker you didn't say we were going to play for money."

Gillian started shuffling the cards. "Well normally we would play for candy kisses." She lifted her head and looked at her husband. "But _someone ate most of them the last time we played poker."_

MacGyver only grinned. "They had almonds, I couldn't resist."

Johnny chuckled and shook his head. "But this is a lot of money Gill, are you sure you want to do this?"

She was done shuffling. "Oh come on you guys, will you lighten up and not worry about it? I got these bundles from the bank earlier when I was running errands. It is just some mad money to play with." She started dealing. "The game we are playing kids is 5 card draw, duces are wild, everyone ante up a buck."

Everyone sitting at the table opened their bundles and laid a crisp dollar bill down in the center of the dining table.

Gillian looked at her cards. "Let's see, I'll open with 2 dollars." She put her two in the pile and so did everyone else.

MacGyver fanned out his hand and glanced at it. "Okay, I'll add 3 to that." He counted out three dollars and put it in the pile.

Johnny nodded as he studied his cards. "I'll see your 3, raise you 3."

Min was sitting across from her husband. "3, plus 4 more." She put ten dollars in the pile. She turned and looked at the dealer. 

Gillian added her 10 to the pile along. "I call." She set her cards face down and picked up the deck. "Cards?" She looked to the right at the paramedic. Johnny set two cards face down in front of him.

"Two please."

Gillian dealt him two cards; she looked at her husband that was sitting directly in front of her. "Mac?"

MacGyver put one card face down. "One, please."

"Oh, someone thinks he's got a good hand huh?" She dealt him a card.

Her husband shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, we'll see." He picked up the card and added it to his hand.

"Min?" 

The dark haired woman put down three cards. "Three please."

"Here you go." She dealt Min three cards. "And two for me." 

Everyone was studying their hands and each other, looking for any hint to how good the cards were that they each were holding.

Min and Johnny were no novices to poker; the two of them played it often with Roy and JoAnne. Min had also been taught all about cards from Uncle Jesse. He had come from a long line of poker players. She cleared her throat. 

"Well, I think I'll start the bidding at 5 bucks." She picked up 5 dollars and put it in the ever growing pile of ones. Everyone put 5 dollars into the pot.

Johnny nodded and picked up 5 more. "I'll see your 5, raise you 5 more."

Gillian and Mac both added 5 more to the pile. Mac licked his lips and pressed them together. 

"Okay, I'll raise you 10."

His wife added 10 to the pile. "Call, everyone show your hands."

Johnny put down his cards, he smiled proudly. "Three Queens."

Mac nodded as he put down his hand. "4 of a kind, all tens."

Gillian frowned as she laid her cards out. "Damn it! I only have a full house, nines and sevens."

All eyes turned to Min, so far MacGyver had the winning hand. She looked at all of them and smiled. "5 of a kind…all Kings." She laid them out, all of them were kings and there was one duce. Everyone groaned as she reached out and started pulling the large pile towards her. "I thank you all for this hefty sum, by my calculations there's about 130 bucks here."

Gillian shook her head as she gathered up all the cards and passed them to the paramedic. "Okay Johnny, your turn to shuffle."

The paramedic picked up the deck and divided it up; he shuffled the card and bridged them. "Okay, the same? 5 card draw?"

"Yeah." Gillian got up from the table. "Anyone want something to drink?"

"Can I have a cow juice on the rocks Gill?"

"I knew you were going to ask for that Mac." She looked at her two friends. "Min, Johnny?"

Min looked at her friend that was standing next to her husband. "I'll have a soda please."

Johnny nodded and turned his head towards Gillian. "Me too, please." He started passing out the cards.

"Coming up." Gillian went to the fridge and got out two sodas and gave them to her friends. She got out small glasses, put ice in them and filled them with milk. She set the glass of milk in front of her husband. "Your cow juice."

"Thanks." Mac had a sip of it.

Gillian cleared her throat and stuck her hand out. "Hey, where is my tip?"

"Oh I'm sorry." He picked up a dollar and put it in her hand.

She turned her hand sideways and the dollar fell from her palm, it drifted back on top of the table. "I don't think so; you're going to have to do better than that."

MacGyver raised an eyebrow. "So what do you want then?"

His wife grinned at him. "How about a kiss?"

"Okay." He stood up and kissed his wife on the forehead.

The young woman narrowed her eyes at him. "Not a peck Mac, a _kiss_."

Mac sighed and took his wife into his arms. "Well if you insist." He pressed his lips to her, dipping her as he did so. 

Min wolf whistled as she watched her two friends. "Go get a room!"

Johnny shook his head; they had been in that position for about 30 seconds. The paramedic turned his attention to his wife. "If I didn't know better I'd say he was giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

The couple finally straightened up and MacGyver sighed as he sat back down in his chair. "Are you satisfied now?"

Gillian regained her composure and cleared her throat. She walked behind her husband and hugged him around his neck. "Yes, thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and stood up. "Okay, now that we got that settled, let's play some cards."

"Oh man I am _beat_."

Gillian flopped down face first onto the king size bed and sighed. MacGyver came into the room and closed the door behind him, he shushed her. "Hey, remember? Sleeping 5 month old?" He pointed to the playpen and his wife covered her hand with her mouth. 

"Oops."

MacGyver lifted his light grey t-shirt over his head, it was still slightly damp. He wadded it up and tossed it at the hamper and unzipped his jean shorts. "But you're right, I'm tired too." He glanced at the clock, it read 12 30.  "It's a lot later than we usually stay up."

"Yeah it is." Gillian shrugged out of her shirt and shorts and put them both in the hamper. She passed the playpen and glanced into it. Evan was sound asleep; his bottle was lying on its side drained of its contents. Gillian reached down and gently touched the baby's cheek. The baby was lying on his back. 

"Sweet baby." She smiled. "Tonight your parents won some money for your college fund." She kissed her fingers and touched them to his face. "Night Evan."

Gillian stepped away from the playpen and opened her dresser. She took out a clean pink nightgown and tossed it on the bed. 

MacGyver was tying the drawstring on his dark blue and green checkered pajama bottoms. He yawned widely and peeled back their bed. "It was fun to play cards with Min and Johnny; we should do it more often." He flopped down on his side of the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. 

Gillian finished getting undressed and pulled her nightgown down over her; it was a short gown only going to her knees. She climbed into the bed and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "You're right it was fun." She motioned to the lamp on her husband's side of the bed. It was the only light in the whole room; they didn't want the overhead one to disturb the baby.

"I think its lights out time Mac."

MacGyver nodded, he was already falling asleep. He turned and clicked the light off. He laid back down and sighed. He lifted his arm so his wife could curl up closer to him. He put his hand on her back. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No." Gillian lifted her head and the couple kissed. "Night Mac."

"Night Gill."

They both settled down and went to sleep.

Gillian was walking down the hall, on her way to the spare bedroom Min and Johnny were sharing. Min was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She insisted on making breakfast since Gillian had been doing all the cooking for the whole weekend.  MacGyver and Johnny had just gotten back from taking Evan to the mall. The two men were looking for a car part for Mac's Nomad. Evan had fallen asleep on the way back and MacGyver had put the baby boy to bed. The two men had retreated to the garage to work on the Nomad. Min had asked Gillian to get something out of her purse, she wanted some hard candy.

Gillian opened the spare room door; much to her surprise she saw the back of Johnny Gage. He turned around and faced her. He was in a pair of dark blue boxer shorts, his jeans in his hands. The two people looked at each other and Gillian gasped loudly and put her hand to her mouth. Johnny looked at her wide eyed as he moved his pants over his boxer shorts.

"Oh my God Johnny I'm so sorry." She quickly turned around and started to close the door.

Johnny could feel his face burning as he tossed his jeans on the bed and slipped into a pair of shorts. He opened the door and went down the hall after his friend.

"Did you find the candy?" Min was standing at the stove flipping pancakes. 

"No, I didn't." Gillian wouldn't look at her friend, she was sure her face was as red as an apple.

"Don't worry about it then."

Gillian sat down at the dining table, hoping that her red face would calm down.

Johnny came into the kitchen and saw his wife cooking. "Hi."

Min smiled at him. "Hey." She stepped towards him and gave him a kiss. "How was the mall? Did you guys find that part?"

"Yeah and a couple of other things, the next time you see Mac ask him what he brought for our son."

"Oh with Mac I can just about guess."

Gillian heard her friend but she was too embarrassed to face him. Johnny walked over to the table and cleared his throat. "Gill, can I see you for a moment?"

"Sure." She wasn't looking at her friend as they both went down the hall. When they were far enough away Johnny sighed. "Gillian, it's okay, you didn't know I was in there changing."

Gillian finally turned and looked at her friend. "No I didn't, I thought you guys were in the garage. I'm sorry Johnny I didn't mean to just walk in on you like that." She thought about what she had seen and her cheeks grew warm.

Johnny shook his head. "It's okay, it could have been worse you know."

"How?"

The paramedic cleared his throat. "I could have been in briefs, or without anything at all."

Gillian started laughing. "Yeah that would have been a lot worse than just seeing you in your boxer shorts."

Johnny nodded. "So don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay." 

He glanced at the garage door. "Well I better go back in there and help your husband change that part out." He put his hand on the door knob and started to turn it.

"I better go help your wife with breakfast, have ever so much fun."

Johnny smiled at his friend. "Believe it or not, it is. It must be a guy thing." He opened the garage door and closed it behind him.

Gillian came out of her bedroom wearing her light blue and white hockey jersey with the matching pants.  She was holding Evan in her arms and was followed by her husband. He had put on his blueberry blue jersey; the pants were the same color. He had a small grey bag in his hands as they both stood in front of the spare bedroom door. Mac knocked on it.

"Johnny, Min, you both doing okay? Did the uniforms fit?"

The door opened and Johnny was behind it, he had on MacGyver's black and white jersey on and black pants. "Yeah, it fits." 

He stepped aside and Min stood up. She had on Gillian's blueberry blue uniform that had been a gift from her husband. "Yeah so does mine." She saw that Gillian was holding her son.

"What are we going to do with Evan?"

MacGyver smiled as he walked into the room carrying the bag. "I was just about to get to that."

He opened the bag and pulled out a tiny hockey uniform, it was baby blue and white with baby blue pants. He turned it over and it had the number 7 on it and the name Evan. 

Min saw it and she gasped loudly and started laughing. "Oh my God, _where_ did you find that?"

Johnny shook his head. "That was what I told you to ask him about."

"You like it?" Mac handed it to Evan's mother. 

The young woman laughed as she looked at it. "That is adorable."

Gillian gently laid Evan on the bed and stretched out her hand. "Here I'll put it on him."

Min handed the uniform to her and she slipped it over the white body suit that Evan had on. The uniform was a little big but it fit him well. "There, don't you look cute." She lifted him up and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah he does, but you still didn't answer me, how are all 4 of us going to play hockey?"

MacGyver left the room and came back in with a baby carrier. "With this Min." He opened the box and took the light blue harness out. "We'll just carry him around, that way we can all play and he can enjoy the new experience."

The paramedic looked at his friend and smiled. "You are insane Mac, only _you_ would take a 5 month old out on the ice."

"I am not insane."

Gillian looked at her husband and raised an eyebrow. This made MacGyver move his head a little from side to side. "For the _most part." He looked at the baby. "I just think it would be more fun for us to take him along, that's all."_

He folded up the carrier and put it back in the box. "We already strapped the car seat from the Land Rover into the Nomad. If you all are ready, let's go play."

The Nomad pulled up to the West Covina rink and MacGyver tucked his sunglasses into the visor above his head. "Okay, here we are." 

Johnny was sitting in the front seat beside him; he opened the door and walked around to the back of it. MacGyver unlocked it and the two men each grabbed a bag and took them out. Gillian took Evan out of his car seat and she and Min followed the two men into the building. 

"You two _do_ know how to skate right?" Mac sat down on a bench and took off his tennis shoes. He put on his black skates and laced them up. 

"Yeah, I just haven't done it in a while." Johnny took the seat beside his friend and took off his shoes. He took Mac's spare set of skates out of the bag and put them on. 

Min unzipped the large blue gym bag and took out a pair of white skates that belonged to Gillian. She took off her loafers and slipped the skates onto her feet. "I didn't know how until Bo and Luke taught me one winter in Hazzard. I'm used to skating on a frozen pond though."

"It's not that much different." Mac stood up and took the baby carrier out of his red gym bag. He took it out of the box and put it over his shoulders. He had been elected to carry Evan first. 

Gillian stood behind him and helped him criss cross the straps across his back and fasten them. The carrier was sitting on top of his chest. 

"Okay Gill, let's put Evan in."

Gillian walked around her husband and lifted the baby high. She carefully slipped him into the carrier, mindful of his legs. Mac had his legs from the bottom and gently pulled them through the holes. Finally Evan was tucked securely into it. 

"There!" Mac tried to bend over but discovered he really couldn't without fear of spilling Evan out of the carrier. "Umm… can someone hand me his little hat please?"

Johnny reached into the bag and took out a tiny blue woolen cap. "Here you go."

"Thanks." MacGyver put it on the little boy's head. "So you won't get cold."

Gillian sat down on the bench and took out her white skates, she put them on and started lacing them up. "How does he feel? Is he heavy?"

MacGyver felt like he had a bowling ball strapped to his chest. "No I wouldn't say that he is heavy, it's just a weird sensation having this weight right in front."

Min stood up and stomped her feet a little, making sure her skates were tight enough.  "Now you know how I felt when I was 9 months pregnant."

Johnny took 4 helmets out of the red gym bag and passed them out. "Here is everyone's brain bucket."

"Brain bucket? Is that paramedic humor?" MacGyver put his helmet on and fastened it under his chin.

"Nah, just Gage humor."

Mac pointed to the other bag. "The sticks are in there. The one with the black handle is _mine_."

Gillian got the sticks out and shook her head as she handed the one with the black handle to her husband. "Here you go Mr. Over Protective About your Precious Stick."

"Thank you." He took his stick from his wife and looked at it.

His wife shook her head and grabbed his wrist. "Oh will you stop it already? Come on let's play."

The two couples walked around to the side door of the rink and stepped out onto the ice. 

The two couples had divided into two teams, the Gage's against the MacGyver's.  They were going to play a simple game and see who could score the most goals. However this changed, because Evan was strapped to MacGyver's chest the foursome had decided to make it a very easy going game. They were just skating around the icy gently passing the puck back and forth to each other. 

MacGyver had the puck, he passed it to Johnny.  He was watching the fireman skate. "You know you skate really well Johnny, who taught you?"

Johnny was using his stick to keep the puck with him, he looked at his friend. "My father, he took me out on a frozen pond when I was about 8 and showed me how to skate."

The two women were behind the men; Gillian skated around them and tapped her stick against the ice. "Pass it here Johnny." 

The paramedic complied, passing the puck over to her. Gillian took it and passed it to Min.

"You know I never understood how to play hockey." Min had her stick and hit it, passing the puck back to Gillian.

"Nice shot! Believe me I don't know much about it either, but I'm learning." Gillian pointed to the goal. "Come on let's see how well you can score."

MacGyver watched as Gillian and Min started racing towards the other goal. He looked down at his passenger and saw the little boy was asleep. "I guess he's too young to appreciate the game."

Johnny laughed. "Yeah he is a little young." 

The two men skated towards the goal to be with the women.

Min wiped her eyes as she picked up her son and hugged him to her chest. "You be a good boy now Evan, don't give your Uncle and Aunt a hard time." She looked at his little face, she sighed as she touched it. "I'm going to miss you." She gave him a kiss and passed Evan to his father.

Johnny hugged his son, closing his eyes as he did so. "We'll be back at the end of the week, okay?"

Gillian and MacGyver were standing in the living room, watching the parents say goodbye to their son. It was not an easy thing to watch. 

Min took a shuddering breath and looked at her friends. "I'm sorry; I know you must think I'm a big wimp."

MacGyver and Gillian shook her heads. "Of course we don't." 

"We know how hard this must be for you." Gillian gave the mother a small smile.

Johnny kissed his son on the head and passed him to Gillian. His dark eyes looked very sad as he touched the little boy's hands. He checked his watch and turned to his wife. "We better go Min; we have to get up early."

Min started getting upset again and nodded her head. "Yeah I know." She looked at her two friends and sighed. "Well we better go." 

"Yeah you better." Gillian gave Evan to Mac and hugged Min tightly. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of him, okay?"

"I know, I'm sorry."

Johnny and Mac shook hands and hugged briefly. "You have a safe trip Johnny."

"I will Mac, thanks for looking after Evan for us."

Min and Gillian ended their hug and the red haired woman hugged the fireman. "Take care of yourself Johnny, have fun in Vegas."

The paramedic hugged his friend. "I'll try."

They let go of each other and Gillian took the baby from MacGyver.  He saw how upset his friend was and he smiled at her. 

"Come here Min."

MacGyver put his arms around the young mother and hugged her. "Come on now it's going to be okay."

Min sighed as she put her arms around her friend. "I know I know, enough with the water works right?"

Mac pulled back from her and wiped her face. "Now did I say that?"

The young woman started laughing. "No you didn't."

"That's right I didn't." He smiled at her. "Now go on, it'll be okay."

Min took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She touched one of her son's hands and kissed it. "Bye Sweetheart, we'll see you soon."

Johnny reached out and touched his son on his head gently. "Bye Evan, be good."

Min and Johnny picked up their bag and turned around; they opened the front door and walked out of it. MacGyver and Gillian stood in the doorway and watched as they walked down the driveway. They both turned back around and waved as they got into the Land Rover. The white vehicle started up and pulled away, Mac and Gillian waved at it as it disappeared around the corner.

"So what do you want for breakfast?" 

MacGyver was in his pajama bottoms; he had the fridge open and was looking into it. It was his turn to make breakfast. 

Gillian was sitting at the dining table; she had on her pink nightgown and was stirring a bowl of baby cereal. It was her turn to make Evan breakfast. She and her husband had been taking turns all week feeding the baby. 

"Whatever is fine." She unscrewed the cap to Evan's bottle and poured more of his formula into the bowl.

"How about some scrambled eggs?"  Mac took out a carton of eggs and set them down on the counter.

"Eggs are good."

Evan was sitting in his high chair; he had his teething keys and was waving them in the air. The baby was babbling as he watched the two adults. 

"There Ev, I think we finally got the consistency right." Gillian sniffed the contents of the bright yellow bowl. "Smells good, smells just like bananas." She scooped some in the baby spoon and fed it to the baby. Evan started smacking his lips together as he ate the cereal; this made the young woman smile. "It's good huh?"

MacGyver went and put a t-shirt on; he took out the cooking spray from the cabinet above his head and gave the skillet a coating of it. "Johnny was right, he's a good eater."

Gillian gave the baby another spoonful. "Yeah he is." She gasped loudly at the baby and touched him on the end of his nose. Evan giggled and reached out trying to grab Gillian's finger. She let him and he tried to put it in his mouth. This made the young woman laugh.

"Hey that's my finger! I need that."

"Maybe you aren't feeding him fast enough." Mac had the fire turned on; he was waiting for the skillet to get hot enough so he could crack the eggs into it.

"Maybe, or maybe he's part cannibal." Gillian fed Evan two more bites of cereal; he ate them and shook his keys. "He likes those keys." The baby stuck them in his mouth and was chewing on them. 

MacGyver cracked 4 eggs into a bowl and had a fork, he was stirring them around. "Yeah he does, it looks like they're tasty too."

"It's probably his teeth. Min left us some teething pills to put in his formula if they really start bothering him." She gently took the keys from Evan's mouth and fed him more of his cereal. "Here you go Baby this is a lot tastier than those keys."

There was a sound of muffled sizzling. Gillian turned around and saw her husband had poured his bowl of eggs into the skillet. It was a strange sound that even got the attention of the baby.  Mac added seasoning to the eggs; he looked up and saw two pairs of eyes on him.

"What?"

Gillian blinked at her husband. "Your eggs sounded really weird." She saw that Evan was also watching him. "See, Evan is wondering what that was too."

Mac looked at the little dark eyed baby. "It's only eggs Ev, that's all." 

At the mention of his name, the little boy smiled widely and laughed.

Gillian scooped more of his cereal out of the bowl and gave it to him. "It still sounded weird Mac."

"So what are we going to do today?" He had a spatula in his hand and was stirring the eggs.

"Oh I don't know, we could go to the Foundation and double check to make sure everything is still all right for Egypt."

"Nah, if we go anywhere _near_ that building we'll get sucked into it and end up working. How about we take him swimming?"

"Yeah that sounds like fun." Gillian fed Evan the last of his cereal; she shook her head and showed the baby the empty bowl. "Look at this! You ate _all_ of that cereal! My goodness you must have been hungry."

"Well he got up pretty early." 

The eggs were done and Mac scooped some on a plate along with a piece of buttered toast and walked it over to the table and set it down in front of his wife. "Here you go."

Gillian stood up. "Thank you Sweets."

She started to walk around him to go put the baby bowl into the sink. MacGyver grabbed her by the arm. "Wait a second that is going to cost you."

Gillian smiled. "Oh? And what exactly is the going price for breakfast these days?"

"Well according to my price list, one kiss."

She hissed through her teeth. "_That's kind of steep." _

Mac put his hands on his hips. "Oh? After I went through all the trouble of making it for you you're not going to pay my price?"

Gillian sighed. "Well, since you _did make it." She had the bowl in her hands; she set it down on the table and put her arms around her husband's neck, kissing him. _

Evan was watching the two adults that were standing close to him; he reached out and curled his little fingers around Gillian's nightgown. 

MacGyver was hugging his wife, he looked at saw Evan holding onto her. "Hey little one, this girl belongs to me, go get your own."

Gillian saw him with her nightgown in his hand, she started laughing. "What can I say, he has good taste."

"Come on now let your Aunt Gill go so she can eat her breakfast." Mac gently touched Evan's hand and the baby finally let go of her nightgown.  "Thank you." He kissed the little boy's hand and picked up his bowl from the table. "I'll put this in the sink Gill, go ahead and eat."

Gillian sat down and started eating her breakfast. "What about you? Aren't you going to eat?"

MacGyver put the bowl in the sink and turned on the water, filling it. He turned off the faucet. "Yeah I'm coming." He got a clean plate out of the drain board and put the rest of the eggs from the skillet onto the plate. He sat down next to his wife and started eating his breakfast.

Gillian and MacGyver had packed Evan up in his light beige and tan stroller. The nearest pool from their house was 4 blocks away. The couple had decided to walk. The Veterans Park pool was a massive dark grey building with bright orange trim that could no doubt be seen for miles. For the small sum of one dollar, a person could swim all day. They had bought Evan a baby float; it was a bright yellow inner tube that had a smaller tube with two leg holes. 

The pool was Olympic size, made of bright white and blue checkered tile. There were two walls of the building that opened up, allowing air to circulate. This also cut down on the echo that every little noise seemed to cause. MacGyver had on a pair of black trunks; he pulled his white t-shirt over his head. There was a silver handrail and steps. He stepped down into the pool, sighing as he did so. Gillian carefully laid Evan down on her towel and changed him into a bright blue swimming diaper.

"Warm?"

Mac was up to his waist. He rubbed his arms with the water. "Yeah, it's nice, sort of like a Jacuzzi."

"Oh good." Gillian picked Evan up from the bench and tossed her husband the baby float. She walked over to the edge of the pool and handed the baby to him.

"Here hold him a second."

Gillian had on a big baggy t-shirt that went down to her knees; it had a picture of a cartoon cat on it. She stepped back and lifted it over her head. She had on a dark blue bathing suit, her hair put in a ponytail.

MacGyver watched her, he was disappointed. "What no bikini?"

"No, not today." She took a hold of the handrail and stepped into the water. "It is nice and warm." She walked down the steps and took a hold of the baby float. "Okay, I have a hold of this thing, put him in."

Mac lifted Evan high and gently lowered him into the float. Gillian guided his legs through the holes.

"There, how's that?"

The little baby wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He looked at the bright yellow plastic curiously. He looked at Mac and Gillian with questioning eyes.

"I don't think he likes it."

Gillian shrugged. "Well this is all something new to him; I don't think he's ever seen a pool before."

Mac put his hands on the tube and started moving it around. "See Ev, this is a pool. It's kind of like your bathtub only bigger." He splashed some of the water onto the tube. "See? Remember how you like to splash?" He held out one of Evan's hands and splashed it in the water.

This made the baby's eyes get big; he smiled as he splashed the water himself.

"There you go."

Gillian smiled. "See isn't it fun, watch." She moved so she was directly in front of the baby, she took a big breath and dunked her head into the water, wetting her hair. She popped out of the water and this made the baby laugh. 

MacGyver held his breath and ducked his head under; he surfaced and smoothed his hair back. "You know Gill, what we need is our own pool."

Gillian was moving the tube around. "Think so?"

"Yeah I do, I mean we both love to swim and this pool is the only one nearby. The backyard is big enough why don't we think about it?"

"We can look into what it would take; it's probably going to cost at least 25 thousand to get a pool put in."

Mac moved close to her. "I know but we had a lot of fun when we went to see Bill and Laura. They had a really nice pool that we enjoyed, didn't they?"

Gillian nodded as she put her arms around her husband's neck. She smiled and gave him a small kiss. "Especially that one night when we went for a midnight swim."

Mac grinned and kissed his wife. "And did everything _but."_

Evan was watching the two adults, he babbled at them and they both looked at him. MacGyver started laughing as he brought the tube closer.

"What's the matter little man? Feeling left out? Well let's see what we can do about that." He lifted the little boy out of his tube and held him. 

Gillian splashed some water on him. "Aha I got you!"

MacGyver gasped and looked down at the baby. "Did you see that? She splashed us! Let's get her."

He had a hold of one of Evan's little hands. He slapped at the water hitting his wife in the face. "Nice shot!"

Gillian wiped her face. "Hey no fair! Two against one!" She splashed them again and swam away. The two men chased after her.

Evan was very tired and cranky by the time they got back to the house. It was late afternoon and time for the little boy's nap. Gillian was carrying him as they walked into the house.

"Here Mac, why don't you check his diaper while I make him a bottle."

MacGyver was pretty worn out himself; they had stayed for over two hours at the pool. He yawned as he took the little boy from his wife. "Come on Ev; let's get you ready for your nap."

Mac walked down the hall into the master bedroom, he took the towel from around his neck and spread it out on the bed. He carefully laid the baby down on it.

"Let's see what we got here."

He opened the tapes and pulled down the diaper. The diaper was messy, he sighed and stood up.  

"I see, well that certainly explains the smell." 

He looked around for the container of baby wipes and the diapers, they were over on top of his wife's dresser. "Okay, stay right here, don't move." He quickly came back with a clean diaper and the container of wipes. He opened it and started cleaning the little boy up.

Gillian was also feeling the effects of too much swimming. She yawned widely as she got out Evan's can of formula and one of his bottles. She filled the 4 ounce bottle with water and put two scoops of formula into it. She put the nipple on it and started shaking it up. 

"There, all clean." MacGyver put the dirty wipes inside the messy diaper and folded it up. There was a small wastebasket on the other side of the playpen. He tossed the diaper into it and smiled.

"Two points for me Evan." He picked up the little boy and kissed his cheek.

Evan yawned widely and laid his head down on MacGyver's shoulder.

"I know you're tired but we'll give you a bottle and put you to bed." He put his hand on the back of the little boy's head and hugged him. 

Gillian was still shaking the bottle as she came into the bedroom. She saw the way Evan was laying against her husband. "Aww, poor Baby." She smiled and rubbed his back gently. "Here Mac, put him down." She handed the bottle to her husband.

MacGyver walked over to the playpen and laid the little baby down into it. Evan was on his side and Mac took a folded up receiving blanket and tucked it under his back so he could drink his bottle.

"He looks really tired; it'll take no time at all for him to fall asleep."

Gillian took another blanket and gently covered the baby up with it. "Yeah, I'm pretty pooped."

"Me too." 

The couple left the room and quietly closed the door behind them. They decided to go lie down in the spare room and try to catch a few winks themselves.

"What time is Min and Johnny coming in tonight?" Gillian had her towel around her waist; she undid it and let it fall to the floor.

MacGyver laid down on the bed and sighed. He was too tired to even take off his t-shirt. "When I talked to Johnny on Wednesday he said he gets in at 9 and Min gets in at 9 30." He turned and looked at his wife as she climbed into the bed. "Is that what I told you or what it the other way around?"

"I think that's what you said." Gillian sighed and scooted closer to her husband; turning on her side to talk to him "Man I'm beat, why is it that swimming always wears you out?"

MacGyver yawned and closed his eyes. "It's the water. We can't sleep too long, it's after 5. We have to make sure Evan is all packed and stuff when we wake up."

Gillian rubbed her hand across her eyes. "I'm going to miss him; it's been a very interesting week having him here."

"Yeah it has." MacGyver turned on his side and looked at his wife. "I'm going to miss him too, he's a good kid." 

The couple was facing each other, within a matter of minutes the conversation was over as they both drifted off to sleep.

The sun had gone down at little after 7; the sky was rapidly going from the bright coppery colors of sunset to the dark blues and grays of night. MacGyver was deep in sleep. He had his arm draped across his wife's waist. Gillian was restless beside him; she was squeezing her eyes and gently touching her stomach. Her hand accidentally bumped against her husband's as she moved around. 

MacGyver opened his eyes; he looked down at his wife and saw how pained her face was. She was groaning softly in her sleep.

"Gill?" Mac gently touched her face, his fingers patting her cheek. 

The young woman gasped loudly and opened her eyes, she hissed through her teeth as she rubbed her stomach.

"Bad dream?"

Gillian was breathing fast. "I…I don't know. I can't remember." She got another pain and she bit her lip against it. 

MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together. "Your stomach?"

"Yeah, feels like it's full of razor blades."

"A warning?"

"Maybe."

Gillian was still feeling the effects of the dream she had, she wished she could remember what it was about. She turned and looked at her husband, the moment her eyes focused on his face she got a pain in her upper chest area. She started rubbing the area just under her collarbone.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, it burns." Gillian closed her eyes briefly. "I don't like this Mac, my stomach hurts and now this area hurts and I don't know why."

MacGyver knew better than to doubt his wife or her abilities. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Come on, I think we should get dressed."

He walked around the side of the bed and helped his wife to her feet. The moment she stood she cried out in pain and doubled over. Mac helped his wife take a few steps out into the hall.

There was a hissing sound; the soft whooshing noise was coming from the front door. They both turned and looked at it. There was a strange blue glow they could see underneath it. MacGyver instantly recognized what it was; he grabbed his wife by the arm and pulled her into their bedroom.

"Mac what is it?"

He closed the door and locked the knob.  He went over to his wife's nightstand and picked up the phone. He put it to his ear and started to dial for the police. The line was dead. He swallowed hard as he put it back down. "It's dead."

Gillian's stomach pains were getting worse; her face had drained of its normal color and had turned a sickly shade of white. "Mac."

He looked around frantically. "I know, I need something to block the door with."

 "My dresser."

"Good idea." Mac grabbed the corners of it with his hands and had just started pulling it out from against the wall when he heard the sound of loud clanging. He froze and listened, it was followed by the unmistakable sound of the wooden door being kicked in. MacGyver stopped what he was doing; he went over to the playpen. "Gill, put on a robe."

Gillian made her way over to the closet and pulled out her white robe. She wrapped it around her, tying it at her waist.

MacGyver reached down and gently picked the sleeping Evan up and wrapped him in a nearby blanket. "Here, take Evan and get out of here."

Gillian was still in a lot of pain but she managed to take the baby from her husband and hold him to her chest. Mac went over to their window and pulled up the blinds. He unlocked it and started opening it.

Someone was on the other side of the bedroom door. The knob started jiggling. MacGyver and Gillian froze in their tracks and looked at each other.  

Gillian could feel her heart racing in her chest as the sound of a shoulder being thumped against the door rang out. The heavy thudding was loud; it woke up Evan who started crying loudly.

"Shh Baby, I know, its okay." She cradled him to her chest.

MacGyver finally got the window open, he looked at his wife. "Take Evan and go next door to the Johnson's and use their phone to call the police."

The thumping was getting heavier, Gillian looked at the door. The thudding suddenly stopped and she heard the distinct click of a gun. Mac heard it too and touched his wife on the shoulders. "Go Gill, I'll be okay."

The last thing Gillian wanted to do was leave her husband, but for the sake of the baby she had to. She hugged Mac with one arm and gave him a kiss. "Watch yourself okay?"

"You too." He touched his forehead to hers and took her arm; he helped her carefully climb out the window.  Gillian landed on the ground and looked up at her husband; he raised his hand to her. The young woman ran around the side of the house just as the sound of a machine gun firing rang out.

MacGyver hit the deck; the door was rapidly turning into Swiss cheese. He crawled along the floor, stopping in front of his wife's dresser. Whoever was behind the door stopped to reload, Mac used this opportunity. He got to his knees and grabbed the dresser around the middle. He pushed it front of the shredded remains of their bedroom door.

Gillian rounded the corner to the front of the house; she was holding Evan to her as she did so. The baby was crying and she did her best to comfort him. There was a huge black van parked in front of their house. Gillian was not about to get close to it, she started to run in the other direction. She ran over to the Castilla's house, it was a red brick. She ran up the sidewalks and started pounding on their door.

"Angel! Lupe! Let me in! It's me Gillian! It's an emergency!"

The fancy wooden door slowly opened, a man in a blue ski mask was there to greet her. Gillian gasped, she stepped back and turned to run but it did no good. The big man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the house. The last thing that could be heard as the heavy wooden door closed was the sound of Gillian screaming.

MacGyver heard the scream; he stood up and ran over to the window.

_"Gillian?"_

The machine gun started up again and Mac once more dropped to the floor. The bedroom door was gone. A big heavy booted leg shot through the splintered wood and kicked the dresser over. There were two men with black ski masks that came into the room. MacGyver got slowly to his feet. He licked his lips and pressed them together.

"Uhh… hi, something I can help you boys with?"

The two men in dark clothing were standing over him, they didn't say a word. MacGyver looked around for something to use to defend himself; the only thing close to him was his nightstand.

Mac sighed. "Guess not." 

The two men tried to grab him. Mac grabbed his lamp; he knocked off the shade and pulled the plug from the wall. He swung at it and hit one man in the head with it; the ceramic lamp disintegrating in his hands. The other man looked down at his fallen cohort. He lunged at Mac but the blond man jumped onto his bed. It bounced as he ran across it, heading for the door. 

The big man rounded the bed; he grabbed Mac by the waistband of his trunks as he jumped down from the bed. He grabbed the back of Mac's head and threw him down to the ground. 

MacGyver got the wind knocked out of him, he was coughing hard. The big man grabbed him by the arms and picked him up. He wrapped his arm around Mac's throat, putting him in a headlock.  

MacGyver was struggling against the hold. The arm was squeezing his neck; his air supply was running out. He was reaching behind him trying to grab at the man. He felt the ski mask and pulled it off of his head. His air was quickly disappearing and Mac couldn't take another breath. He grabbed his attacker, his fingers digging into his face and neck. The big man was watching his victim's face grow red. He did not let up on the amount of strength he was using to choke out his air. MacGyver could feel the darkness of unconsciousness start to invade his senses. He had both of his hands around the man's neck, making one last effort to free himself. It was in vain; the blond man stopped struggling and went limp. His assaulter only smiled as he took his arm from around Mac's neck. The unconscious man keeled over onto his side, hitting the floor with a distinctive thump. The man sighed; he picked up his ski mask and slipped it back over his face. He stepped over MacGyver and left the room.

MacGyver slowly opened his eyes, his head was throbbing and his neck was burning. He rubbed it gently; wondering if it was bruised. His whole body felt like it was made of lead as he rolled over on his back. He groaned as he slowly got up and looked around. He climbed over the dresser and stumbled down the hall. He made his way outside; the front doors were lying on the lawn. There was a heavy chain wrapped around the wrought iron door.

The commotion had the whole neighborhood hopping; his neighbors were coming out of their houses. 

Arnold Johnson was a middle aged man in his late 30s; he was a heavy set guy with thinning black hair. He had on his white work shirt and black pants; he spotted his neighbor and ran over to him.

"MacGyver what happened?"

"Some guys broke in…have you seen Gillian?"

Arnold put his hand on his friend's arm. "No I haven't. We called the police, they're on their way."

Mac closed his eyes briefly, his head was pounding. "We have to find Gillian and Evan."

There was some commotion coming from the other side of the street. Mac and Arnold turned towards it and what Mac saw made his blood run cold. Gillian was walking down the sidewalk coming towards him. The front of her white robe was stained with blood. The source was a large cut on the left side of her head.

"Gillian…" MacGyver started walking towards her.

The young woman was trying to keep her eyes open. Her legs felt like they were made of rubber. She reached her hand out to her husband.

"Mac..."

MacGyver grabbed his wife just as she started to fall. "What happened?"

Gillian was looking up at her husband. "A man and a woman, they were in the Castilla's house." She closed her eyes briefly. "They…they jumped me."

Mac nodded and swallowed hard. "Gillian, where's Evan?"

The young woman broke down, she started crying hard. "They took him!" She shook her head slowly. "I tried…I tried to stop them."

"I know you tried." Mac hugged Gillian to him, the young woman was sobbing. He only closed his eyes and held his wife tightly. 

The LAPD, the Fire Department and the paramedics swarmed on the MacGyver house. The police had roped off part of the neighbor and the whole street was an endless sea of official vehicles and flashing lights. 

MacGyver and Gillian were in their bedroom. Gillian had taken off her bloody robe and now had on a baggy t-shirt. Mac had put on another t-shirt on, it was medium grey.

There were two paramedics from Squad 16; they were checking the couple over. They both had been slightly damaged but it was nothing serious. They wouldn't have to go to Rampart. There was a Detective that was questioning the couple.  Gillian sighed as the blood pressure cuff was taken off of her arm.

"I told you twice now, the door opened and a man with a mask grabbed me and pulled me inside." 

The older brown with grey haired man with the dark blue LAPD vinyl jacket and matching dark blue pants nodded as he wrote in his little pad. "I see, and you said there was a woman?"

"Yes." She flinched as the paramedic pressed gauze to her bleeding head.

MacGyver was getting his neck checked. His throat was starting to turn purple and there were marks from the clothing that his attacker wore pressed into his skin.  He was watching what was going on. "She told you this already Detective, why don't you go check out the Castilla house instead of harassing my wife?"

Detective Kessler raised an eyebrow. "We intend to Mr. MacGyver but we have to be sure that you and your wife was not involved in the disappearance of the child."

Mac was scowling, his dark eyes narrowing. "Believe me we weren't, we both love Evan very much."

"I understand that but I have a job to do." Three unformed policemen came into the room. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." The Detective left them and went to talk to the three officers.

Gillian turned and looked at her husband; she reached over and took his hand. "Are you okay? I didn't even ask."

MacGyver nodded and squeezed her hand. "I am for now, ask me that later and I might have a different answer."

_"I want to speak to my friends right now!"_

A loud voice rang out and both Mac and Gillian felt a cold shudder ran down their spine. They recognized the voice; it belonged to Evan's father. 

Gillian swallowed hard and turned to her husband, her eyes growing wet. "Mac…"

"I know." He got up slowly from the bed.

Min and Johnny came into the bedroom; they both had puzzled looks on their faces. Both of the parents had on jeans and t-shirts.

"Mac? Gill? What is going on?"

"Why are all these people here?"

MacGyver turned around and looked at his wife briefly before facing the confused looking couple. "We've uh…had some trouble."

Min nodded. "Yeah we can see that, what happened?"

MacGyver cleared his throat; he didn't know how to tell the couple what had happened. Instead of speaking, he only hung his head.

Min saw the way her two friends looked and a cold finger pressed into her heart. "Where's Evan?"

Johnny creased his brow and started looking around. "Yeah where is our son?"

MacGyver still didn't look at them. "We've had some trouble."

Min stepped closer to her friend and touched his chin, lifting it so she could see his eyes. "Mac." The young woman's heart was pounding in her ears. "Is Evan all right?"

His dark eyes looked away from hers. "We don't know."

Min gasped and stepped back. "What do you mean you don't know? Where is my son?" Her voice was filling with panic.

MacGyver focused his gaze on both of them. "Someone took him from us. We tried to stop them, but it was no use. He's gone."

Johnny closed his eyes briefly and touched his hand to his forehead and wiped it. "Oh my God."

Gillian was watching all of this; she couldn't let her husband face the music alone. She got up and stood beside him.

Min looked at her friend as though she hadn't heard him. "Evan is …gone?"

The blond man only nodded. 

Min turned to her husband, Johnny's face was a blank slate. "Our son is gone?"

Johnny put his hands on her shoulders. "Yeah Min."

The young mother shook her head slowly. "No…not Evan… not my baby."  She pulled away from her husband.

She focused her attention on the couple that had been watching him. "You were supposed to watch him! We trusted you!" She was crying and shouting at the same time.

MacGyver took a step towards her. "Min we tried to stop them, I swear we did."

Min's face went from horrified to angry; she walked up to her friend and thumped her fists against his chest. "You were supposed to watch him!" There were tears streaming down her face. 

Johnny's eyes were shining as he grabbed his wife's fists and turned her towards him. He didn't say a word he simply pulled her to him and hugged her.

Min was fighting him but her struggles proved useless, she finally stopped and broke down. Her fists let go as her hands wrapped around Johnny's back. 

"Oh God Johnny what are we going to do?"

Johnny closed his eyes as he held his wife. "I don't know, I honestly don't know."

"Our baby is gone." Her voice was muffled and pained against her husband's chest.

"I know, but we're going to get him back. I swear it."

Mac and Gillian could only stand there and watch. Gillian leaned against her husband and put her arms around him. MacGyver returned her embrace and watched the broken hearted couple. They both never felt so helpless.

Everyone finally left, the police, the paramedics, now it was only the two couples. Johnny came out of the spare room and quietly closed the door behind him. MacGyver was in the kitchen making some tea.

"How is she?"

Johnny sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Asleep, I gave her a mild sedative."

Mac took the tea bag out of the cup and added a spoonful of sugar to it. He stirred it and handed it to the paramedic. "Johnny."

The paramedic took the tea and sipped it, he put his hand up. "Mac, we both know you and Gillian did everything you could. Min was just upset." He had another sip and pulled out a dining room chair and sat down in it. "Gillian?"

MacGyver made himself a cup of tea and joined his friend. "She's in the other spare room asleep."

He sipped his tea. "Whoever did this knew what they were doing."

Johnny creased his brow. "How do you mean?"

"The door was welded Johnny, then jerked it off of its frame. They used a machine gun to get into the master bedroom. And they ambushed Gillian at the neighbor's house. All of those are the calling cards of professionals."

"But why Mac? Why would pros be involved in this?"

MacGyver sighed and wiped his hand across his eyes. "I wish I knew." 

The paramedic closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. He wanted to get upset, he felt like screaming or crying but he knew he couldn't. He knew he had to be strong for his wife. Johnny sighed heavily. "I'm never going to see my son again, am I?"

MacGyver put his cup down on the table and reached out. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Johnny, we're going to get Evan back, I swear to you."

"How?"

Mac squeezed Johnny's shoulder. "Don't worry we'll think of something."

Min opened her eyes and looked around the dark room. The first thought that came into her mind was of her son. She sighed as she wiped her hand across her eyes. She didn't know where her son was or with who and the idea of that only tore at her already broken heart. She was alone in the room; a thin blanket had been put over her as she slept. She sat up and wrapped it around her shoulders as she got up from the bed.

Gillian was in the kitchen with the two men, she had woken up with an incredible headache. Her head felt like an overripe melon that had been split open. She was sitting at the dining room table with her head in her hands. MacGyver was standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders.

"How ya doing Gill?"

The young woman sighed. "Just sever my head at the neck, it would hurt less."

Johnny was sitting in the other chair, he nodded. "You both are lucky you didn't end up really hurt."

"Or worse."

The three people turned and saw Min standing in the kitchen doorway; her checkered blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Johnny got up and walked over to her; he put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them.

"You should be sleeping Min, why are you up?"

The dark haired woman looked at her husband, her face a map of pain and grief. She licked her lips and swallowed hard. "I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about Evan."

Johnny drew her to him and hugged her. "I have been thinking about him too."

Min turned her head and glanced at her two friends; she pulled away from her husband. She walked over to the table and stood over them. 

MacGyver and Gillian were gazing at the young woman; both of them had guilt painted on their faces. Min could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. 

"I know you both did all you could for Evan, you both got hurt trying to keep him safe." The tears were slowly rolling down her face. "I'm sorry about earlier…I was just so upset." She wiped her cheeks. "It wasn't your fault and I want you both to stop blaming yourselves."

Gillian was also crying, she got up and faced the young mother. "I'm so sorry Min, I had Evan with me and I fought so hard but there were two of them." Gillian buried her head in Min's shoulder. 

Min nodded as she hugged her friend. "I know, it's all right." 

The two women ended their embrace. Gillian was wiping her face as she sat back down.

Min turned her attention to MacGyver; she had beaten her fists into his chest. She felt terrible for having done that.

"I'm sorry I hit you Mac."

MacGyver tried to smile but it wasn't genuine. "It's okay, I deserved it."

"No, you didn't." Min reached out and took his hand; she tugged on it until he stood up. As soon as he got to his feet Min hugged him around the waist. MacGyver put his arms around the young woman and held her. He rested his chin on the top of her head. 

Min let go of him and stepped back, she looked into the dark eyes of her friend. "There is something I want you to do for me."

Mac swallowed hard. "Name it."

Min's face reflected pure seriousness, her lips were pressed together. "I want you to get our son back."

MacGyver did not say one word; he only gave the young woman a nod.

Detective Tom Kessler was standing in front of the newly repaired wrought iron door. MacGyver and Johnny had put the door back on and welded it to the frame. The two men had also put the wooden door back and had repaired the broken hinges. 

Kessler was dressed in black sweat pants and his LAPD vinyl jacket. It was just after sunrise and he reached out and pressed the doorbell.

MacGyver and Gillian were asleep in the second spare room. The door to their master bedroom had not been replaced. The bedroom was still a mess, there were bits and pieces of wood that had flown everywhere from the machine gun. There were also chunks of broken lamp scattered all over the carpeting.

Mac heard the doorbell and sat straight up. He had changed out of his trunks and had put on a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms. He looked down at his wife, she was sleeping soundly. He didn't want to wake her up. He leaned over and kissed her cheek as he got out of bed.

Johnny had the doorbell too; he had borrowed a pair of blue sweat pants and a t-shirt from MacGyver to sleep in. Min was fast asleep beside him. He carefully moved away from her and got up. He opened the bedroom door and met his friend out in the hall.

"Was that the doorbell?"

MacGyver was pulling a t-shirt on. "Yeah, it was."

The two men walked down the end of the hall. Mac stood near the door and peeked into the peephole. He saw a man in a dark jacket.

Johnny was rubbing his hands over his face. "Who is it?"

"I'm not sure; it's too dark to tell." He pulled away from the door and unlocked it, leaving the chain on as he cracked open the door. He wasn't sure who it was but he was taking no chances.

Detective Kessler had his badge out and showed it to him. "It's Tom Kessler, Mr. MacGyver."

Mac saw the gold badge and breathed a sigh of relief. "Just a second."

The door closed and the chain was unhooked. MacGyver opened the door all the way and unlocked the wrought iron. He stepped back and let the Detective in.

"I'm sorry to be barging in like this so early but I figured you all would want to know any information we had regarding the disappearance of your son."

MacGyver, Johnny and Kessler all went into the living room and sat down.

"Would you like some tea or coffee Detective?" Mac sat down in the loveseat.

"No, no thank you."

Johnny was sitting on the couch beside the Detective. "And what information do you have?"

Kessler looked at MacGyver. "We believe that neither you nor your wife had anything to do with the disappearance."

MacGyver crossed his arms over his chest. "We told you that, why would we kidnap a baby we had been watching all week?"

Kessler sighed. "You have to understand MacGyver it is standard operating procedure to look into the caregivers first." Tom reached into his jacket and took out his small notepad; he flipped open the cover. "There were no fingerprints in either this house or the Castilla house. A few of your neighbors did report to us that the black van your wife talked about seeing was also seen a few days earlier."

Johnny looked at the Detective. "The van was seen in the neighborhood earlier?"

Detective Kessler nodded. "Right Mr. Gage, it's my guess they were casing the neighborhood; looking everything over before they put their plan into action."

"What about the Castilla's?"

The Detective turned and looked at the blond man sitting across from him. "The Castilla's have been out of town for the past month."

MacGyver tilted his head back. "That's right; they were going to take that Alaskan cruise."

"The kidnappers broke into the house and used it, it's a real mess. We have been trying to contact them but so far no luck."

Johnny leaned forward and wiped his hands down his face. "So you came all the way out here to tell us you have no clues as to who took my son or why."

"We _are_ looking into the van."

Mac sighed and shook his head; he looked at his friend and saw how upset he looked. He had promised Min he would get their son back. He cleared his throat and turned his attention to the cop. "Detective, would it be all right if I went and took a look at the Castilla house?"

Kessler closed his notebook and tucked it back into his jacket. "For what reason?"

"Maybe I can find something that you might have overlooked or missed."

The Detective's eyes narrowed at the insinuation that he and his men had not done a good job. "We checked everything over twice."

MacGyver nodded. "I'm sure no stone was left unturned."

"Then why do you want to go back and look?"

The blond man shrugged. "Call it curiosity." He was not about to tell the Detective the real reason he wanted to look around. He simply gazed at Kessler and said nothing.

MacGyver and Gillian were standing in the Castilla living room. The Detective had been correct; the house had been trashed by the kidnappers. Gillian was standing at the door, right next to the red brick fireplace. She was looking around the room remembering what had happened to her the last time she had been there. She reached up and touched the bandage that was on the left side of her head.

Mac was walking around the room; the Castilla's had very expensive taste. The living room set was dark brown Corinthian leather from Mexico. The walls had many Mexican masks hanging from them, some were made of ceramic, some were clay. They were all brightly painted and unique looking. There were papers, newspapers, cigarette butts, beer bottles and broken glass all over the light beige carpeting. Mac crouched down and was looking through the stuff. He glanced up and saw his wife. She had a strange look on her face.

"What's the matter?"

Gillian motioned to the area in front of the leather love seat; there were newspapers on the floor. Mac straightened up and went over to that area. He moved the newspapers with the toe of his sneakers and saw a large blood stain. He turned and looked at her.

"Is this where they hit you?"

The young woman said nothing she simply nodded. Mac went over to her and put his arms around her. "It's all right Gill. Why don't you go outside and see if you can find anything. I'll keep looking in here, okay?" He pulled back from her and put his hands on her shoulders. 

"Okay." Gillian gave her husband a small smile; she touched one of his hands and squeezed it. She opened the front door and went outside.

Mac sighed as he studied the junk covering the Castilla's floor. "Come on there has to be something here."

He got down on his hands and knees and started crawling around on the floor, gathering up the newspapers as he did so. He had made his way over to the middle of the room. He moved some newspaper away and spotted a partial footprint. He could make out part of the sole of the shoe. The footprint was partially black but there were some oily spots on the top of it. Like someone had walked through something and had tracked it onto the Castilla's carpet. Mac leaned over and touched the spots with his fingers. He brought them to his face and sniffed them, he could smell nothing.  He straightened up and touched the pockets of his jeans; he felt his knife and took it out. He opened the large blade and started cutting the footprint out of the carpeting.

Min was lying down on her bed, she had not slept too well the night before and had decided to try and get some rest. She knew that MacGyver and Gillian were next door trying to find any kind of clue as to the whereabouts of their son.

"Min?"

The young woman heard the voice of her husband. "Yeah Johnny?"

Her husband stepped into the room, his wife had her back facing the door. "Are you all right?"

Min closed her eyes and sighed. "Not really."

Johnny sat down on the bed; he was looking down at the bright red comforter. "Do you think he's okay?"

Min heard the emotion in her husband's voice, she rolled over. The young woman felt terrible, she had been so wrapped up in her own pain that she had forgotten that Evan was Johnny's son too. She sat up slowly and moved closer to her husband. She touched his hair gently. 

"He has to be, I can't picture him any other way."

Johnny turned his head and looked at his wife. Min could see the pain in his dark eyes. He looked so heartbroken that it instantly made tears start to form in her eyes. "Johnny...." Min put both hands to his face gently. 

The paramedic closed his eyes briefly. "I want my son back Min, if anything were to happen to him."

Min put her fingers to her husband's lips, stopping him in mid sentence. "Don't say that; don't even _think_ that, we're going to get him back." She put his hand to the back of her husband's neck and drew him to her chest. Johnny wrapped his arms around his wife's waist, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Min didn't say a word; she simply hugged her husband's head and played with his hair. She only held him tighter when she felt him slightly tremble against her.

"Can you get my chemical kit out of the garage Gill?"

Mac and Gillian came back from the Castilla house. Gillian had gone over the outside with a fine tooth comb and had come up with nothing. Mac was in the kitchen. He had his light beige carpet square in his hand. He was standing in front of the counter looking at it.

Gillian came out of the garage, a huge white kit in her hands. It was MacGyver's own mini lab; in the kit were all the basic chemicals.

"Here you go."

Mac took the kit from her. "Thank you." He set it down on the counter and opened it. There were glass vials lying on their sides, some of them had liquid while others had powder. He was looking at all of the plain white labels. "Let's see, what do I need here?"

Gillian was standing beside the counter; she leaned forward resting her elbows on it. "What are you going to do?"

"See what this oily stain is. I have my suspicions but I need just the right chemical to confirm them." He was touching the bottles. "Aha! Bingo!" He picked up a clear vial that was labeled **AMMONIA. **

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Watch and you'll find out."

MacGyver unscrewed the bottle and tipped it over. He was watching as the clear liquid came out of the mouth and dropped gently onto the carpeting. He put several drops on the carpeting and put the cap back on the bottle.

Gillian was watching the carpet square closely. "What's going to happen?"

Mac took a match out of his pocket. "Well, I'm going to touch a flame to the stain; if it does what I think it's going to do we just may have found a clue."

"From a carpet stain?"

Her husband nodded his head as he dragged his thumbnail across the red head of the match. He brought it close to the carpet square. "Watch yourself."

Gillian straightened up and took a couple of steps back. "Far enough?"

"Yeah." Mac turned to the side and looked away as brought the match down and gently touched it to the stain.  The tainted carpet sizzled and popped, like a tiny firecracker. 

Gillian was surprised at this; she jumped back a little further. "Whoa! Was it supposed to do that?"

MacGyver blew out the match and sighed, he turned to look at his wife. "Yeah that's exactly what was supposed to happen."

She looked at the now blackened carpet square. "Why did it do that?"

"Because the stain on that carpet mixed with ammonia will _always get a violent reaction."_

"And that is a good thing?"

"It is a _very_ good thing." Mac looked at his wife and smiled, for the first time since Evan had gotten kidnapped; it was a genuine one.

Gillian creased her brow. "Why are you smiling like that?"

MacGyver took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Because, I think I may have an idea on where Evan might be."

_"Min? Johnny? Are you awake? It's Mac I need to talk to you both."_

The couple was not asleep. They were simply lying on their bed holding each other; giving one another comfort. Min was lying on her back and her husband was leaning with his head on her chest. She turned and looked at the door.

"We're not asleep Mac, open the door."

The dark wooden door slowly opened and Mac poked his head in. "You're both decent right?"

The young dark haired woman shook her head. "If we weren't I wouldn't let you come in."

"Good point." MacGyver opened the door all the way and walked into the room. He seemed rather happy and stuck his fingers into the pockets of his dark blue jean shorts. "Hi, how are you two holding up?"

Johnny moved away from his wife and sat up; he rubbed his hands over his face. "As good as we can."

Min was watching her friend, she saw the way he carried himself. There was a twinkle in her friend's eyes that she could not help but notice. "Okay Mac, what are you up to?"

MacGyver touched his hand to his blue t-shirt. "Me? I don't know what you mean."

"And I'm quite sure you do, you are up to something now let's have it."

Mac sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed and faced the couple. "I did some snooping at the Castilla house, you both know I was going over there. While I was there I found an odd stain on their carpeting, I did a little experimenting and found out that the stain was a solvent called Xylol."

Johnny creased his brow. The name of the chemical was known to him. "I've heard of Xylol, it's very explosive. We have had a few classes at the academy about it."

MacGyver nodded. "That's right it _is a very dangerous chemical and it's only used for a few things." He raised both of his eyebrows. "Well it _used_ to be anyways, because of the health problems it's been linked to its been discontinued."_

Min nodded her head. "Okay, so they don't use Xylol anymore. I don't see why you are so happy about that."

Mac cleared his throat, a smile on his face. "Because, that stain is going to lead us right to your son." 

The young mother felt her heart start to beat hard, her eyes grew wet. "Really?" She turned and looked at her husband. She reached out and took his hand.  

Johnny swallowed hard; his heart was beating hard within his chest. "Mac do you mean it? That stain really will help us find Evan?"

MacGyver grinned. "Absolutely! I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."

Min closed her eyes briefly and said a quick prayer of thanks. "So what was this chemical used for?"

"It was used primarily for the manufacturing of computer chips and parts. Gillian is on the phone right now to Pete to see if he can tell us anything about it."

Gillian came back into the room holding two pieces of paper. She had just gotten off the phone with Pete, he had faxed her some information about Xylol. Mac smile when he saw his wife.

"Well, what'd you find out?"

The young woman cleared her throat and looked down at the papers she was holding. "According to Pete, Xylol was used in computer part manufacturing up until about 15 years ago. It was replaced by a derivative called Xylene."

Mac curled his fingers at his wife. "Did he find out anything else?"

"No, not really." Gillian handed the papers to her husband. He flipped up the page and read the second one. "It hasn't been used in manufacturing in 15 years." He folded up the report. "15 years." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he was thinking. 

Gillian motioned to him with her head; she was looking at her friends. "See that look? It means the little hamster inside his head is getting quite a workout on that wheel."

Min and Johnny both smiled and shook their heads.

"I don't care if he has two pigeons and a rat in there; he said that chemical is going to lead us to my baby. Let him think all he wants."

Johnny nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly, just let the man alone Gill."

The light finally went off in Mac's head, he stopped the noise he was making with his tongue and turned to the three other people in the room. "That chemical hasn't been used in 15 years, that means a couple of things."

Gillian walked over to her husband and sat down on his lap. "Okay, what things?"

Mac put his arms around his wife. "Either that chemical has been reintroduced to the world of manufacturing somewhere, or."

Johnny was holding his wife's hand in his; both of the parents were on pins and needles waiting for their friend to tell them where he thought their son was. "Or?"

"Or whoever took Evan has been someplace where it used to be, or still is. My guess is the kidnappers have been to a place that still has a large supply of that chemical on the premises. They walked through it and tracked it all the way to the Castilla house."

Gillian nodded, it made sense to her. "Okay so _if the kidnappers were someplace where a large supply of it is still being stored, how can we find out where?"_

MacGyver smiled at his wife. "Simple, all we have to do is get a list of computer manufacturers in this area that have been out of business for at _least_ 15 years."

"Pete should be able to tell us that right?"

"Right Pete or Duncan, why don't you give both of them a call."

Gillian gave her husband a salute. "Yes oh Brainy One!" She leaned forward and kissed her husband on the lips before getting off of his lap and leaving the room.

Gillian had spoken to both Pete and Duncan. It was going to take a couple of hours for the two men to get the information that MacGyver had asked for. The two couples were anxiously waiting for the phone to ring; it was driving all of them crazy. They decided that the best thing to do to keep their minds off of the phone was to clean up the master bedroom. 

Min and Gillian were in charge of that while the two men were busy with the door. Everyone seemed to be in a much happier mood now that there was real hope of finding Evan and bringing him home. 

Johnny walked down the hall; he had two hinges in his hands. He had taken them off of the shredded door that he and MacGyver had taken out to the garage.

"Here are the hinges Mac."

Mac was standing in the doorway; he had a tape measure and was measuring how big a door he would have to buy. "Can you hold this right here?"

"Sure." Johnny had the end of the tape measure; he pressed it against the inner edge of the door frame.

"Got it?"

"Yeah."

Mac had a silver tape measure; he stretched it out all the way across to the other side of the frame. "34, 35, 36." He sighed. "The door we need has to be exactly 36 inches." 

Gillian was crouched down in front of her dresser. She was picking up the wood pieces from the carpeting and tucking them into a garbage bag. She watched as her husband wound up his tape measure. "Are you going to go right now?"

"Might as well, we have time until we hear from Pete and Duncan." 

His wife nodded. "Where are you going to go get the door from?"

Mac walked over to where his wife was and stood over her. "I was thinking about going to McIntyre Wrecking and getting one from there."

Gillian straightened up. "Good idea, they have some nice ones."

"Yeah they do." Mac turned around and looked at Johnny. "You want to come along? I'm going to need some help with that door."

Johnny was playing with the hinges; he set them down on the nearby dresser. "Sure, it'll be a way to kill some time." 

Min was cleaning up the broken lamp over by the bed. She set everything down and dusted off her hands. "Just don't be gone too long, we might hear from Pete and Duncan sooner then they said."

Mac nodded his head. "Will do." He gave his wife a smile as he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "We'll be right back."

Gillian smiled at her husband. "Okay."

Min walked over to her husband, she stood in front of him. The young woman put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Be careful out there okay?"

Johnny had his hands on his wife's back; he pressed her closer to him. "I will." 

They let go of each other and Johnny touched his wife's cheek gently. He gave her a kiss and touched his forehead to hers. "Try not to think about the time."

Min nodded. "I'll try."

Johnny smiled at his wife before turning his attention to MacGyver. "Okay, let's go get the door."

"All right." Mac looked at the two women and winked. "We'll be back Ladies."

Mac took his wallet and the keys to his pickup truck off of his dresser. He tucked his wallet into his back pocket and the two men left the bedroom.

"He's quite the Professor Brainiac isn't he?"

Min was stuffing the trampled lamp shade into her garbage bag.

Gillian had the vacuum cleaner; she was getting ready to vacuum up the sawdust that was all over the floor the machine gun had created. "Yeah he is."

"How many degrees does Mac have anyways?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Gillian turned on the vacuum cleaner and ran it over the carpeting in front of the door and her dresser. She sucked up all the sawdust and turned off the vacuum. 

Min stopped what she was doing and turned around to look at her friend. "Why wouldn't I believe you?"

"Because he has quite a few." She sighed and wiped her brow.

"Oh yeah? How many?"

"4."

Min's eyes grew round. "4? Mac has _4 degrees?"_

Gillian nodded as she stepped over the vacuum and picked up her garbage bag. "Yup, 4. Hard to believe isn't it? It took me 6 years to get my two bachelors' and my master's but he did all 4 in 4 years."

"Wow that is unbelievable." Min crouched down and continued cleaning up the broken lamp. "What are they in?"

"Uh…Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Electrical Engineering."

Min wrinkled her nose. "I bet that engineering degree was nothing but pure math. I hate math, I was never very good at it in school."

"Me either, but Mac is." She went over by the bed to help Min. "Ever play pool against him? If you do I highly recommend you don't play for money. All of that math stuff makes him a very _mean pool player. He's beaten me unmercifully on more than one occasion."_

Min started laughing. "Well I'm just grateful he was able to find out what that stain was."

"Well believe it or not a lot of the stuff Mac can do is not because of his degrees. He's been finding other ways to use things since he was a little kid. I personally think it's a natural born talent." Gillian got down on all fours and looked under the bed. She saw more chunks of ceramic and started pulling them out. 

"Say Gill, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Ask me what?" The young woman's voice was muffled because she was partially under her bed.

"What is Mac's first name?"

Gillian scooted back and looked at her friend. "Mac's never told you or Johnny has he?"

The dark haired woman shook her head. "No he never has."

MacGyver's wife smiled. "Okay but if I tell you, _promise me you won't tell Johnny or let Mac know you know it."_

Min put her right hand up. "I swear on my honor as a Duke."

Gillian grinned widely and sighed. "His full name is Angus Ian MacGyver."

Min creased her brow. "Angus? His first name is Angus?"

"Yeah, now you know why he never tells anyone."

"I can see why!" Min shook her head. "That poor guy, how in the _world_ did he ever get stuck with Angus?"

"It's a family name, there are sons named Angus that go all the way back to the 7th century."

Min bent down and picked up the chunks of ceramic that Gillian brought out from underneath the bed. "I think we're ready to vacuum over here." 

Gillian nodded. "Okay, I'll go get it." She walked around the bed over to where she had left the vacuum and unplugged it.

"Do you ever call him Angus?"

"Sometimes, especially if I _really want to get his attention." She brought the vacuum cleaner over to the bed and bent down. There was a wall socket just behind Mac's nightstand. She plugged the vacuum in there._

"Well I really have no room to talk; I'm not fond of my first name either."

Gillian looked at her. "It's Miranda right?"

"Right but I've never gone by it."

Her friend grabbed the handle of the vacuum. "I think it's a beautiful name."

Gillian turned on the vacuum and started going over the carpeting around Mac's side of the bed. She sucked up something and the vacuum stared making a strange grinding sound. She turned it off and looked down at the head.

"Oh great." She sat down and tipped the vacuum back.

"What did you pick up?" Min crouched down to help her friend.

"I'm not sure, this vacuum is fickle sometimes and of course the only person that can fix it is off buying a new door."

"Here, let me see. The vacuum we have at home is stubborn too." Min ran her hands along the bristles on the bottom of the vacuum. "Maybe it's something that is right here."

Gillian sighed. "I've been telling Mac for ages that we need a new one but he just keeps fixing it."

Min spun the brush head, still trying to feel for anything strange that might have gotten caught. "Don't worry Gill; sooner or later he won't be able to fix it anymore."

"Only if I push this thing over a cliff."

Min felt something near the end of the brush and creased her brow. "I think I found something." It was wrapped around the head itself.

Gillian leaned over sideways looking at where her friend's fingers were. "I don't see anything."

"I can feel it though." She pulled and finally felt whatever it was give, she brought her hand up and to the two women's surprise it was a gold chain with a charm hanging from it.

"A gold necklace?" Gillian took it from her friend.

Min dusted off her hands. "Does it belong to you or Mac?"

"No, he and I both wear silver chains." Gillian was looking at the thin rope chain. The charm hanging from it was slightly bent from being stuck in the head of the vacuum cleaner. It was a globe that had the letters TCC in it and a 5 below it.

"TCC?" Min was looking at the charm. "Any idea that those letters mean?"

Gillian licked her lips and pressed them together. "It looks like a company logo."

"But where did it come from?"

"I don't know but there is only one way to find out." Gillian placed the necklace and the charm into the center of her hand and enclosed it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She jerked as the image of her husband being suffocated came into her mind. She could feel her own neck start to tighten; she reached up and touched her hand to her throat. She could feel what was happening to her husband.

Min was watching her friend; she knew what Gillian was doing. "Gill what is it?"

Gillian was watching as her husband tried as best he could to get some air. He was clawing at the man's neck. She saw the chain in between his fingers. He pulled it from the man's neck and dropped it. She was having a hard time breathing herself and opened her eyes. She opened her hand, breaking the connection she had to the necklace.

"Are you okay?" Min could see how hard her friend was breathing.

"Yeah." Gillian kept rubbing her throat; it felt like it had been crushed.

"What did you see?"

Gillian sighed. "I saw where this necklace came from. It belonged to one of the men that broke in here. Mac tore this from his neck when he was being suffocated."

Min swallowed hard. "Do you think those letters can tell us anything?"

Gillian swallowed hard. "I think we better find out what they stand for and fast." 

The young woman looked at her friend; Gillian had seen something else other than what she had told Min. But she said nothing; Gillian only hoped that she was wrong about what else she had seen.

"One, two three!"

MacGyver was standing in the bed of his pickup truck and Johnny was on the ground. The two men lifted the heavy, solid oak door and put it onto the bed. Johnny helped slide it all the way to the back window. 

Mac reached into his back pocket and took out a small ball of twine. "Okay Johnny, let's tie this puppy down and get out of here."

Johnny raised his hand. "Here, throw it to me."

MacGyver tossed the tennis ball sized twine at his friend; he caught it with his one hand. "Nice catch!"

"Thanks."

Johnny walked around the side of the bed and started unrolling the ball. He tied one end to a bar just inside the bed and stretched his hand out. "Here take this."

"I got it." Mac took the other end of the twine and put it across the front of the door, wrapping it around it a few times. He tied it around the other bar and cut the twine with his knife. "There! That should hold it." He pulled on the twine, making sure it was secure.

"Yeah that'll work." Johnny had his hands on his hips. He raised his arm and checked his watch. "It's been a good hour Mac, we should go."

MacGyver nodded as he walked to the end of his truck bed and jumped down. "Don't worry we'll hear from them." He opened the door and got into the truck.

"I know it's just the waiting that is making me crazy." Johnny slammed the passenger side door and put on his seatbelt. 

"We'll be home soon and I'm sure that Gillian got all the information we'll need to go get Evan." Mac slipped his sunglasses on and started up his truck.

Johnny turned sideways and looked at his friend. "And just what _are_ we going to do once we know where Evan is?"

MacGyver had put his truck in drive; he put it back in park and turned towards the paramedic. He took his sunglasses off, his face was very serious. "Then we kick ass."

Johnny grinned and nodded slowly. "Yeah we do."

MacGyver smiled and gave his friend a nod; he slipped his sunglasses back on. He faced forward and put his truck in drive. 

Gillian and Min were in the living room, they were anxious to hear from Pete and Duncan. The two women were also waiting for their husbands to get home. Gillian was sitting on the couch chewing on her nails, her legs crossed. She was bouncing her legs up and down. Min could not sit down; she was pacing back and forth in front of the door.

"When are we going to hear from them Gill? It's been forever!"

"I know Min believe me, but they will fax us or call us whenever they find out something." 

Min didn't know it but Gillian had spoken to Duncan and had told him about the necklace and the letters TCC. He had promised to get back to her as soon as he could. 

Min was also anxious for Johnny to get back, him being home made the wait easier. There was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Gillian got off of the couch and went over to the door.

"That _has_ to be the men." She opened the door and smiled, it was their husbands. The two women went outside to meet them. "Hey."

MacGyver got out of his truck and went over to his wife, he kissed her. "Hi, any word?"

Gillian sighed and shook her head. "No, but we did find something."

Min practically tackled her husband. "I'm so glad you're back Johnny."

The paramedic hugged his wife. "Me too, still no word huh?"

"No, but like Gill said, we _did find something."_

Mac took off his sunglasses. "What did you find?"

Gillian reached into her pocket and took out the gold chain with the charm. She handed it to her husband. "It was on the floor near the bed, we found it when we vacuumed."

"TCC? Did you tell Duncan or Pete?"

"Yeah, Duncan said he'll look into it." 

Min looked at her friend. "Well so far we haven't heard anything. I just wish they would hurry up."

"They'll let us know soon I'm sure of it." Mac gave the young woman a smile and faced his wife. "Hey come look at the new door." He took her by the hand and led her to the side of the truck. "What do you think?"

Gillian looked at the light tan oak door, it had a six panels going down the center of it. She reached out and knocked on it. "Wow seems pretty solid."

"It is believe me; you can't even break down an oak door without a car."

"It's nice, dare I ask how much it was?"

MacGyver shrugged. "It wasn't bad, it was 157 with tax."

"Good, well you two got a job to do."

Her husband looked over shoulder at Johnny. "What do you say Fireman? Shall we finish what we started?

Johnny had his arm around his wife's shoulder. "Might as well."

"Okay well let's do it."

Mac climbed onto the back of that truck. He reached into his pocket and took out his knife. He cut the twine from around the door. Johnny was at the other end, he was watching his partner.

"Got it?"

"Yeah, start pulling!"

The door was laying flat on the bottom of the bed. Johnny stuck his hands under the door and lifted it up. He started backing up, dragging the door with him. Mac walked along the bed and jumped down from it. The door came off of the back and Mac was there to catch it. The two men carried the door into the house. 

The fax machine went off and Gillian turned towards it. She was standing on the outside of the new door watching her husband and Johnny put it in. She ran at top speed down the hall and into the living room. There were two pages that came in, she snatched them with shaky hands and read them. It was the list of computer manufacturing places that had been out of business for 15 years or more. She looked over the list and found the name TannisComm Corporation.  She read the second paper that included a note from Duncan. She read his words carefully and her throat went dry.

"Oh My God…"

MacGyver, Johnny and Min came into the living room. The three people saw her white face. Mac went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Gillian what is it?"

"This is my fault Mac; this is all because of _me. They took Evan because of me!"_

The young woman was practically in tears as she handed the papers to the two parents. "Here."

Johnny took the papers from her and read them. "So this place TannisComm Corporation…TCC. The person who had that necklace worked for them."

The paramedic looked at the second paper, he read what Duncan had written and his face also grew pale. He lifted his eyes and looked at Gillian.

MacGyver saw his face as well. "What does that paper say Johnny?"

He sighed. "Duncan writes here that a man named Carter Tannis had a manufacturing plant that made computers. He was in business for over 10 years before he was bought out in a hostile takeover." Johnny lifted his eyes again. "By a Joshua MacKenzie. Carter Tannis killed himself one week later; he was survived by his daughter, Christina."

Min gasped and covered her mouth with her hand briefly and looked at Gillian. She realized now that the life of their son was in danger. They had to get Evan back and fast. "We have to go get him." She reached out and took her husband's hand.

Johnny squeezed his wife's hand and closed his eyes. He too knew that the stakes had just gotten higher. 

MacGyver closed his eyes briefly and drew his wife to him. He hugged her tightly. 

"It's all right Gill, what happened to Tannis wasn't your fault and you aren't to blame for Evan either."

Gillian put her arms around her husband. "Christina was the woman that was with them. She kidnapped Evan to pay me back for my father killing hers! She thought Evan was _our_ baby Mac!" She swallowed hard. "When I read the necklace I saw her too."

Mac let go of his wife, he looked at both of Evan's parents. "Let me see that paper."

Johnny handed the paper to Mac, he read it and nodded. "Okay, according to this we have a little bit of a drive. TCC was located outside Santa Clarita, right near the San Gabriel Mountains."

The paramedic nodded. "That's a pretty woodsy area."

Gillian finally calmed down and wiped her face. "It's a warehouse out there, that means a lot of space that we can take advantage of."

Min walked around the little group and stood next to Gillian. "What do you mean take advantage of?"

MacGyver answered the young woman's question. "She means we can just sneak right in and sneak right out."

His wife shook her head. "I doubt it'll be that easy Mac. She was cunning enough to plan all this and carry it out. We aren't going to be able to just go in and grab him. The man that choked you out was pro and the man in the Castilla house with her was one too. She's got three professionals working for her."

Mac knew his wife was right. "Yeah ex employees turned mercenary." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Well, we'll just have to plan on running into trouble." He rubbed his hand over his face. There were all sorts of ideas racing through his mind. "We'll need to make a few things before we go." He looked at Min and Johnny. "You'll both need some dark clothes. You can borrow some stuff from us." 

MacGyver checked his watch; it was getting to be late afternoon. "It's 4 o'clock now, I want the four of us to be ready to leave at 7." He saw the questioning look on the faces of Min and Johnny. "The dark will work to our advantage."

The Nomad and the Land Rover slowed to a stop. Their headlights shined onto a dirt road that went off of the highway. The two vehicles had raced along the paved road, cutting right through the Angeles National Forest. 

Mac was looking up ahead at the road; he picked up his walkie talkie. He turned it on and looked out of the Nomad window at the Land Rover.

"Johnny? Min?"

_"Yeah Mac, we're here." _The deep voice of the paramedic came through the small walkie talkie speaker. 

Mac nodded and pointed to the road was just ahead of them. "This is the road that is going to take us all the way to the TannisComm warehouse."

Johnny looked ahead at the dirt road. "I see it."

_"Remember the plan?"_

Johnny let go of the walkie talkie button, he turned and looked at his wife. 

Min was dressed in a pair of Gillian's black jeans and a black turtleneck. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm ready Johnny." He nodded and leaned towards her, giving her a kiss.

"Me too." 

Johnny raised the walkie talkie and pressed the button. "Yeah Mac we're ready, we know what to do."  

MacGyver looked at Gillian; she was also wearing black jeans. She had on a black knit shirt; her hair was put in pony tail.  

"Are you ready Gill?"

The young woman smiled and gave her husband a nod. "Ready."

Mac gave his wife a wink. "Good."

The couple kissed and Mac brought the walkie talkie up to his mouth. "So are we Johnny, let's go."

The metal building at the end of the dirt road was massive. It was made of bright yellow sheet metal that seemed to practically glow in the moonlight. It was a 5000 square feet facility that sat all alone just off of the dirt road, nestled amongst the trees. 

The Land Rover and the Nomad parked a few hundred yards away from the warehouse. They had been driving along the dirt road without headlights, not wanting to give away their presence.  The night air was slightly chilly as MacGyver and Gillian walked around to the back of the Nomad.

"It's so cold." Gillian rubbed her forearms as she watched her husband unlock the back.

"Yeah it is." Mac had on his black vinyl jacket; he zipped it all the way up over his t-shirt. He had a black baseball cap on; he adjusted it down over his head. He opened the back of his car and got out two backpacks. One was dark blue, the other was black. He handed the dark blue one to his wife. He got out two bundles of blue and yellow rope and put them on his right shoulder.

"Remember Gill, I didn't make that many of these. Use them sparingly and only if you have a good clean shot."

Gillian put the backpack around her shoulders. "I remember, don't worry I will."

MacGyver slipped his backpack on and sighed. "Okay."

Johnny and Min walked over to stand with their friends; they each had a gym bag in their hands. Min's was bright red and Johnny's was a metallic blue color. Both of the parents had very serious looks on their faces. Their eyes were stern and focused. 

MacGyver reached out and patted Johnny on the back. "We're ready, how about the two of you?"

The paramedic took a deep breath and let it out slowly. All that was on his mind was his son and how much he couldn't wait to hold him again. "I want my son back Mac, I'm _more_ than ready."

The blond man turned and looked at his friend. "Min?"

Min was holding the handles of her red bag so tightly her knuckles were white. She swallowed hard and lifted her head high. "So am I, let's do it."

MacGyver nodded. "Let's go."

The 4 people all dressed from head to toe in black all ran towards the canary yellow building. 

Min and Johnny crouched down and unzipped their backpacks. They each took out a bow, Min's was red and Johnny's was metallic blue.

"You better be careful with that bow Johnny, it belongs to my brother." Min stood up and took an arrow out of the matching red arrow case. She handed it to Mac. 

MacGyver took the two bundles of rope off of his shoulder. He tied the end of one of the rope bundles to the arrow that Min had given him. He handed the arrow back to her. "Are you sure about this?" He was looking up the side of the building, it was pretty high.

"Positive." Min took the arrow and put it in the slot; she started backing up so she could get a better look at where she was aiming.  She spotted an air conditioner perched on the edge of the roof.  "Me, Bo and Luke used to go hunting all the time with our bows and arrows."

Mac saw where she was looking. "You are going to try and hit the air conditioner?"

The dark haired woman nodded. "Yup, piece of cake."

Gillian took the second bundle of rope from her husband. She had tied the end of it to one of Johnny's arrows and watched as he loaded his bow with it. "Where did you learn to shoot a bow?"

Johnny put his arrow in the slot and prepared to draw it back. He had on a black turtleneck and he started rolling up his sleeves. "My father."

"Are you about ready to go Johnny?" Min had her arrow loaded and was getting ready to draw the string back.

"Yeah." The paramedic stood beside her, he looked up at the air conditioner. "That's a far shot, are we going to be able to hit it?"

"Absolutely, just like boar hunting back home."

Min and Johnny sighed; they raised their bows and took aim.

Mac and Gillian made sure there was nothing in the way of the rope bundles that laid at the two archer's feet. The couple stood back and watched.

Min took a deep breath and held it. She had the string drawn back with her left hand. The right one was holding the bow steady. She closed her right eye and started to exhale, when the last whisper of air left her lips she let go of the arrow. 

The bright red arrow sailed through the air; it stuck into the side of the air conditioner with a loud THONK!

MacGyver smiled and clapped his hands together. "Great shot!" He patted the young woman on the back. "You'll have to teach me to use a bow some time."

Min turned around and grinned at him. "You got it." She gave him a wink and watched as her husband got ready to take his shot.

Johnny saw his wife's arrow; it hit the air conditioner high in the side panel. He wanted his arrow to go right underneath it. He had his bow in his left hand holding the pulled back string and arrow in his right. He closed his left eye and lined up his shot with the tip of his arrow. He took a big breath and held it. He froze and let the arrow fly. 

The arrow zipped through the air, taking the blue and yellow rope with it. It stuck in the air conditioner right under his wife's. He saw where it landed and breathed a huge sigh of relief as he lowered his bow.

Gillian shook her head slowly, she was amazed. "Wow! That was great! You two are like Robin Hood!"

"Yeah you two did good." MacGyver reached into his jacket pocket and took out a pair of thick tan leather gloves. He slipped them onto his hands. 

The two ropes were hanging down the side of the building. He ran over to them and grabbed the ropes. He pulled on them hard.

"Okay, they'll hold."

Gillian got a pair of gloves out of her back pack. She put it back on and clipped it around her waist. She put her gloves on and joined her husband. She picked up one of the ropes and tugged on it. "It's not going anywhere."

Johnny and Min took two small fanny packs out of their gym bags and fastened them around their waists. 

MacGyver also clipped his backpack around his waist and pulled it tight. 

The plan was very simple; MacGyver and Gillian would go into the warehouse through the roof. Min and Johnny were going to go in from the side doors. The foursome was going to surprise whoever was inside. It was going to be 4 against 4. 

The two couples looked at each other and gave one another little nods and smiles of encouragement. They all had one thing on their minds, Evan. 

The large office located inside the warehouse was dark. All of the shades have been drawn, making the glass office look more like a giant gray shoebox. The office was located on the second floor. It sat on top of a large cement foundation that served as the roof of the storage area. The other two floors of the warehouse were made of metal gratings. There was nothing on these two floors but long metal tables and large equipment that had once been used to make the intricate parts of computer chips. Now they all sat quiet and still, covered with years of dust from lack of use.

Evan was lying in a white bassinet that was sitting in between a large oak desk and a set of black filing cabinets. The little boy was asleep, dressed in a light blue body suit. He was covered in a white blanket up to his waist. 

A pair of fingers reached down and gently stroked his cheek. "Sleep now Darling."

A soft female voice rang out; it was the voice of Christina Tannis. The young woman with straight black hair that was shoulder length smiled. "I've got all _sorts_ of plans for you tomorrow." 

Christina was a petite woman, standing at 5 foot 4. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a white turtleneck. They clothes were form fitting, showing off her small yet curvaceous figure. She sat back down in her chair and crossed her legs. "Don't worry Honey; you'll see them very soon." She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a small pistol. It was a .38 special. "It'll be brief, but you'll see them."

Christina smiled, her green eyes flashing as she looked at the silver gun.

There was a knock at the door, it opened and three men stepped into the room. Christina took her feet off her desk and sat up in her chair.

"What you want? You'll wake up the baby!"

The three men were standing near her desk. There were two fairly well built men, each one standing at a little over 6 feet tall. One had black hair; it was shaved short around the sides and spiky on top. He had a thick bandage on the side of his head. The other had blond hair that was also cut short, he was beside his cohort. The third man was the leader; he was much bigger than the other two. He stood at 6 foot 3 weighing well over 300 pounds. He had a goatee and was as bald as an egg on top. He had what looked like scratches on his neck. 

Christina simply looked at the three men. She noticed the bandage on her friend's head. "How's your head Davis?"

The black haired man shrugged as he touched the bandage. "Sore."

"That's what happens when we get careless and get blind sided by a lamp."

The large man's name was Brady, he cleared his throat. "We still got the job done."

Christina shrugged. "If you can call it that." She saw the red claw marks on the hulk's neck. "Nice scratches, get into a fight with a cat?"

"You know where they came from."

The young woman scoffed. "Yeah from MacGyver." She leaned back in her chair. "I'm surprised at you Brady, letting him do that to you and to Davis." She shook her head. "And you are supposed to be mercenaries." Her eyes shifted to the blond man. "Chad and I didn't have one lick of trouble with that woman. She put up a fight but we took her easily." She sighed. "So what do you want?"

Brady was frowning. "We want our money. We didn't get involved in this for just your father's sake."

Christina got up from her chair. "I know that Brady. I am _well aware that your loyalty alone was not enough of a reason to do this. Tomorrow I'm going to give Gillian a ransom note for her son."_

Davis nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "For how much?"

The young woman smiled. "One million dollars."

"And you're _sure _they'll pay it?"

Christina leaned down and looked at the little boy in the bassinet. "Oh I know they will, if they ever want to see their son alive again, they'll have to."

MacGyver and Gillian were crouched down on top of the office roof. They were looking down into the office through an air vent. They could see the three men and Christina.

Gillian swallowed hard as she moved from side to side, trying to see. "I don't see Evan, do you?"

Mac nodded. "There's a bassinet next to the desk. He's got to be in there."

He heard a noise and lifted his head; from the roof he could see the whole warehouse. The noise was coming from above them, on the third floor.

"Thinks that Min and Johnny?" Gillian was also looking up at the floor above.

"Probably."

The office door opened and Mac and Gillian got down low. They made themselves as flat as possible against the roof. 

"She better be telling the truth about that money."

The three men had their backs turned to Mac and Gillian as they walked way. It was the blond man Chad that was talking.

"I'm sure she is Chad, she wouldn't have gotten us involved if she didn't plan on paying us. She knows we don't work for free."

Brody was walking in between Davis and Chad. "Don't worry boys, one way or another we'll get paid. I guarantee it." The three men went outside.

Gillian noticed the bandage on the dark haired man's head. "He must have been the one you clocked with your lamp Mac." Her voice was a tiny whisper.

"Yeah that big guy is the one that head locked me."

"I know I saw the scratches."

Gillian got back up and peeked into the vent. She watched as Christina sat down in her chair. She opened a drawer and took out a photo. She was studying the photo carefully, a slight sad look on her face. 

"That must be a photo of her father."

Mac took his back pack off and unzipped it. He took out a small black velvet bag. "Time to get her attention."

He opened the velvet bag and pulled out a big fat black aggie. He drew his arm back and threw it towards the far wall of the warehouse.

Christina lifted her head as a thumping sound echoed through the large warehouse. She put down the photo of her father and got out of the chair. She heard the sound again and she took her gun out of her pocket. She walked passed the bassinet, glancing at Evan as she made her way over to the door.

MacGyver and Gillian were lying face down on top of the roof again. They lifted their heads and watched Christina carefully walked around. She had her arms extended, holding the gun out in front of her. There was the thumping sound again and she whipped around and looked at the floor above her office. It sounded as though there was someone up there. There was a spiral metal staircase located next to the office; the only place it went was to the floor above.  She walked past her office to it and started to ascend the stairs. 

Gillian her husband's Swiss Army knife, she used it to pry off the vent lid. She closed the knife and passed it back to her husband.

Mac tucked the knife into his pocket. "Hurry up; she's almost right above us. She'll be able to see us through the grates."

"I'm hurrying." Gillian lifted the lid out of the hole and slid it aside. She picked up their backpacks and dropped them into the office. She put her legs through the hole, her hands holding onto the edge. She let go and dropped onto the desk. Mac was dangling from the vent hole now; Gillian had her hands on his legs.

"I got ya Mac, let go."

MacGyver let go of the ledge, he also dropped down onto the desk. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Gillian climbed off the desk; she went over to the bassinet and looked down at the baby. The commotion of their entry had woken him up. A pair of dark eyes were looking up at her.

"Evan…" She reached down and picked him up, holding him to her chest.  She was glad to see that he was all right. She closed her eyes and simply held him. 

Mac reached out and touched the little baby's head. "Hey I'd like to say hello too."

Gillian wiped her eyes and laughed. "Sure." She lifted him off of her chest and kissed his cheek.

MacGyver grinned as he took the baby from his wife. "Hey little one." He hugged the baby boy to his chest, putting his hand on the back of his head. "Don't worry; we're going to get you out of here."

He unzipped his jacket and opened it. He had the blue baby carrier strapped to his chest. "Remember this? Remember how much fun you had in it?" 

Evan was finally starting to wake up. He smiled when he saw his Uncle Mac and his Aunt Gillian. 

Gillian saw this and touched his face. "There's a smile." She kissed his cheek as she took him from her husband and lifted him up. 

Mac stuck his hands through the legs holes. "Okay, put him in."

Gillian lowered the baby into the carrier; he slipped right into it with the help of Mac having a hold of his legs.

"There we go, how does he feel?"

MacGyver adjusted the side straps, tightening it a little bit around him. "Good." 

Gillian went over to the window and looked up at the floor above. She could see someone in a white shirt walking around all the big machinery. "Looks like Min and Johnny still have Christina occupied."

Johnny was crouched down under one of the machines. He was right under the ramp, hiding from the armed woman he could see walking around. He lifted his head and fished two more marbles out of his fanny pack. 

Christina was snooping around a large machine, it was a giant press. She heard two tinkling sounds behind her and she whipped around. She saw nothing but the other machine. She cocked her gun and headed towards it.

Min carefully opened the door to the break room that was located next to the press. Christina had already checked the room but hadn't found where she had been hiding. She watched as the black haired woman got closer to where her husband was hiding.  She stepped out of the room and started following the woman that had kidnapped her son. 

Christina bent down a little; she saw someone was hiding on the other side of the machine right under the ramp. She smiled as she got closer to it and stopped.

"Come out of there!"

Johnny closed his eyes briefly as he crawled out from underneath the ramp. He put his hands up. "Just take it easy now, no need for anyone to get hurt." He glanced to the right of the woman and saw his wife was coming closer to her.

"The only one going to get hurt is _you. Who are you and what are you doing here? This is private property."_

The paramedic cleared his throat. "My name is Johnny Gage."

Christina nodded, a deep scowl on her lips. "And just _what are you doing here?"_

Min had her fists clenched; she entwined her fingers together and brought both of her hands down on the back of the young woman's neck. Christina gasped and fell forward, down on all fours, dropping the gun as she did so. Min bent over and grabber her by her shirt and hauled her back up.

"We're here to get _our_ son back!" 

Christina's eyes got wide. "Your son?"

Min had a hold of the young woman's turtleneck. She drew her left arm back. "That's right, he belongs to us! You kidnapped the wrong baby!" She let her fist fly, punching Christina right on the mouth. The young woman's head snapped back. Min watched as she crumbled to the steel grating. Her left hand hurt but she didn't care, she simply shook it out. A small smile of satisfaction on her face.

Johnny sat the unconscious woman up and flung her over his shoulders. "Nice punch!"

"Thanks, it felt great too."

The couple kissed each other briefly and headed for the stairs.

MacGyver and Gillian came out of the office just as Min and Johnny were carrying Christina down the stairs. 

"Hey you got her!"

Mac patted the back of the baby. "Look who I found!" He was smiling widely.

The young mother spotted her son. She practically ran down the last few steps, nearly falling as she did so. She ran over to her friend.

MacGyver unbuckled the carrier and pulled it off of Evan. He was holding the baby out when Min came racing towards him.

Min took her son from her friend. She was crying hard as she kissed her son several times. 

"Evan." She held her son to her chest and closed her eyes. She was thanking every God she had ever heard of that her baby was all right.

Johnny came down from the stairs, he saw his wife holding their son. "Evan…"

MacGyver turned around and saw the look on the paramedic's face. He walked over to him and took Christina off of his back. He patted Johnny on the shoulder. "Go on; go say Hi to your baby."

The paramedic gave his friend a watery smile. "Thanks."

Johnny ran over to his wife and son. He touched Evan gently on his head. "Hey Son."

Min laughed and wiped her face. She handed Evan to his father. "Say Hi Daddy."

Johnny took his son from him, there were tears running down his face as he cradled the baby to his chest. There were no words to express the joy and the incredible relief he was feeling. 

MacGyver and Gillian were watching the happy reunion. He put his arm around his wife's shoulders and sighed. "Will you look at that Gill?"

Gillian leaned against her husband. "Yeah I know, feel better?"

Her husband nodded his head. "A lot better."

There was a faint popping sound that rang out. Gillian creased her brow and turned towards her husband.

"Mac what was that noise?"

MacGyver's face was white; there was a strange look in his eyes. 

Gillian creased her brow when she saw the face he was making. "What's wrong?"

Mac touched the area below his collar bone, he looked at his fingers and they were bloody. 

His wife saw this and her eyes grew wide. She saw a small hole in his jacket. She unzipped it and saw the crimson stain spreading in his upper chest area. "Oh my God…" 

Min and Johnny heard her and turned towards her. "What?"

Gillian was about to open her mouth more shots rang out.  She looked around and saw the three mercenaries were on the third floor. Davis and Chad had guns out and started firing. Brady smiled and waved at her, he had a .22 rifle in his hands with a scope.

Min and Johnny shielded Evan as the bullets started raining down on them. Gillian grabbed her husband around his waist. "Come on! Into the office!"

They left Christina on the floor and ran back towards the office, slamming the door.  

Gillian laid her husband down on the desk, his baseball cap coming off and falling to the floor. She lifted his t-shirt up. She saw the small bullet wound near her husband's left shoulder.  It was under his collarbone above where his chest was. There was blood running out of the hole. 

MacGyver was in a lot of pain, his chest was burning. "We have to get out of here." He was breathing hard.

Johnny gave his son to his mother and locked the door. There was a couch in the office and he turned it on its end. He moved it in front of the door. "That should hold them."

Gillian looked over her shoulder at him as she grabbed the blanket out of the bassinet and folded it up. She pressed it to her husband's chest. "Johnny, can you come over here please?"

"Sure."

The paramedic walked over and saw his friend stretched out on the desk. He saw the little white blanket that was turning red with blood. His eyes grew wide. "What happened?"

"That big bastard with the rifle shot him!"

Johnny took the blanket off of the wound and looked at it. "We're going to have to get him to a hospital Gill."

Gillian swallowed hard and nodded. "I know." She put the blanket back over the hole and pressed down on it hard, trying to stop the bleeding.

Mac cried out and gritted his teeth. There was sweat forming on his forehead. He turned his head and looked at his wife and friend. "We have to get out of here!" Once again his words were ignored. He reached out and grabbed his wife by the arm. "Gillian…"

The young woman finally focused her attention on what her husband. "I know Mac but that isn't my concern right now."

"Well _make it_ your concern! Those guys aren't going to give up!" 

The door started pounding and it made Evan start to cry. Min held him tighter, trying to soothe him. "Shh, it's all right." 

Gillian knew her husband was right, if they didn't do something they all were going to end up dead. Her mind was racing, there were thousand things going through it. Her husband being shot was the dominant one. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She started looking around. "Where are our two backpacks?"

Min looked around the desk and saw them on the floor. "They're over here Gillian."

Johnny saw the blanket on his friend's wound was soaked with blood. They needed something else to try and stop the blood. He thought of something and leaned over his friend. "Mac, your knife?"

MacGyver was trying to keep still; he was in pain every movement he made only added to it. "It's in my pocket."

Johnny started touching his friend's pockets, he found the knife. He opened the long blade and used it to cut off his sleeves. He set the knife down and folded up the black material into two squares. He stacked them on top of each other and slapped them on top of the bloody baby blanket. 

Gillian unzipped her red backpack and took out a long glass tube. 

Min gently laid her son down in the bassinet; she decided she needed to help her friends. "What's that?"

"A blowgun." She took out a small black tool kit and opened it. There were six very special darts that her husband had made. He had taken 6 syringes and had taken them apart. He had melted down the plastic parts and made them extremely small. It looked as though the needles were attached onto 6 white pills. 

"Gillian…"

The young woman stood up and went over to her husband. His face was even whiter than it was before. She was trying very hard to not get upset. She touched his face gently. "I'm here."

MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together. "I want you to get Johnny, Min and Evan out of here."

Gillian nodded. "I know, I'm going to use the blow gun and see if we can make it to the vehicles."

Her husband was looking right into her eyes. "You can, if you leave me here." He swallowed hard. "I'll only slow you down. Just leave me here and go."

His wife shook her head fast. "No, I'm not leaving you here Mac."

"You have to."

"No! I don't!" She bit her lip hard, trying not to let her emotions overrun her. She pushed down the huge lump in her throat. "I'm not going anywhere without you. Do you understand?"

Mac closed his eyes briefly and reluctantly nodded. "Okay."

Gillian sighed and stroked his hair gently. She leaned down and touched her forehead to his. She was scared, very scared but she knew she couldn't think about that right now. She had to get everyone out of there and get her husband some medical attention.  "We're going to get out of here, I promise."

Gillian slowly emerged from the vent hole, everything had gotten quiet. The three men had stopped pounding on the door. She crawled along the roof and carefully peeked over the edge.  The three men were huddled together around Christina. She was sitting on the floor; she was awake rubbing her sore jaw. They were talking about what to do next. 

Gillian had the glass tube; she set it against the edge of the roof. She touched her jeans and took out the black kit. She opened it and set it down beside her.  She took one of the darts out and loaded into the end of the tube and waited.

Johnny slowly open the office door just a hair. He looked through the crack and saw the three men and the one woman. They were strategizing, trying to agree on a way to get everyone out of the office. He closed the door and turned around. 

"Okay, it's time to go."

Min had taken the baby carrier when the shooting started; she had it strapped to her chest with her son tucked safely into it. She had helped MacGyver get up; he was getting weak as he sat on the desk. He was holding the black squares to his wound. He was now a grey color, sitting with a slight tilt to one side. Min was next to him, she was rubbing his back.

"Just hang on Mac; we're going to get you out of here."

Mac turned and looked at her, a weak smile on his lips. "I'm glad Evan is okay. That's all that matters."

Min creased her brow, she didn't like the way he was talking. She stroked his hair. "Don't talk like that. You're going to be okay."

The blond man nodded weakly. "Okay."

Johnny sighed; he glanced at his wife and saw the worry on her face. He unzipped his fanny pack and took out what looked small tubes. The tubes had fuses on them and he reached into his pocket and took out a lighter. 

"Just keep talking Mac; we're getting out of here right now."

MacGyver was watching his friend. He was beginning to feel sleepy. "Where's my backpack?"

He started to get off the desk but Min put her hands on his chest. "Where are you going?"

"Gillian is going to need help." He was breathing hard; his whole body felt like it had been dipped in wet cement.

Johnny had the backpack on his arm; he took it off and showed it to the wounded man. "Its right here, I'm going to help her."

Min made her friend lean back against the desk. "Just stay put Mac, we're going to help Gillian, I promise."

Johnny nodded. "I promise too Mac." He opened the Zippo lighter and flicked it. He touched the flame to the ends of two of the tubes. He cracked open the office door and tossed them.

The air suddenly got cloudy. This was what Gillian had been waiting for. She looked down over the edge and saw the 4 people started scrambling around. She aimed the tube at the dark haired man. She pressed her lips to the end of the tube and blew into it. 

Davis was coughing and waving his hands around, trying to get rid some of the smoke. He felt something jab into his neck and he cried out and slapped his hand to it.

Christina had her mouth covered; she saw the way Davis was holding her neck. "What's wrong?"

"Something hit me!" He pulled a needle out of his neck and his eyes grew wide. The world took on a black tint to it. The last thing he saw before he hit the floor was the stunned face of his employer.

Johnny was watching through the window, he saw the dark haired man go down. He smiled and glanced back at his wife and MacGyver. "There's one, Gillian got him!"

Min sighed out of relief. "Oh good, you better start using the firecrackers."

"Right." Johnny unzipped MacGyver's backpack and took out a long string of firecrackers. He lit the end of it and opened the door. He tossed them out and quickly slammed the door.

Gillian inserted another dart into the glass tube. She wanted to take out the big guy and she aimed her blow gun at his big bald head. The firecrackers Johnny had thrown were going off and the remaining three. Brady, Chad and Christina were trying someplace to take shelter but there wasn't one. The storage are the office was on top of was full of deadly chemicals. The Xylol that had gotten all over the Castilla's carpet being one of them. 

Gillian closed her right eye; she finally got the perfect aim for the big bald man. She was furious at him for having shot her husband and wanted to make him pay. 

"This is for my husband."

She smiled wickedly as she closed her lips around the tube and blew air into it.

The dart zipped through the air and hit the big man right in the center of his forehead. He blinked once before falling backwards onto the cement floor.

Gillian lifted her head proudly; she went to get another dart when there was a cracking sound. She looked down at the tube and saw a large crack in it.

"Oh no!"

The crack was in the center of the tube, rendering it useless. She sighed and shook her head; there was still Christina and Chad. They both were hiding behind the storage area. She turned around crawled back over to the vent hole. She stuck her legs into it and dropped down into the hole. 

"So what are we going to do?"

"Take a stand Min, we have no choice."

Gillian had put her back pack on and was sitting next to her husband. She couldn't help but see how horrible he looked. He was lying back on the desk; he didn't have the strength to sit anymore. She leaned over him and stroked his face. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Hi."

"Hi Baby, how ya doing?"

MacGyver went to shrug his shoulders; he got a painful reminder of his bullet wound. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. "Okay." The sharp pain finally faded and he opened his eyes. "What about you? Having fun with your toy?"

Gillian shook her head. "It cracked Mac, there are two left. We are going to make a break for it. Do you think you can make it?"

He lifted his arm and Gillian grabbed it and put it around her shoulders. She helped him sit up. "I feel really sleepy but I think I can."

Johnny cleared his throat. "How are we going to make a stand?"

Gillian turned and looked at him. "Simple, we light everything, toss them all, and run like hell."

Min was rubbing her son's back. Despite everything that was happening the little boy was sound asleep. "All right, I say we do it. We can't stay in here forever." She glanced at Mac. "We need to get out of here."

Gillian nodded as she put her arm around her husband's waist, she helped him stand up. "Yeah we do and we need to do it now." She turned to Min and Johnny. "Okay you two, get out all the smoke bombs, and all the firecrackers." 

Min had her fanny pack lying on the desk. She unzipped it and emptied its contents on the smooth wood surface. She had 6 white tubes that were the smoke bombs and some loose wooden matches. She picked them up and handed them to Gillian.

Johnny took out 4 strings of firecrackers from MacGyver's backpack. He had his Zippo lighter in his other hand. "Okay, you want me to light all of these and throw them?"

Gillian put her husband's arm around her neck and walked him over to the door. She leaned him against the doorframe. She was standing in front of her husband. She took a couple of matches and held them in her hands. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Min and Johnny were right there with her, they were as ready as they would ever be. 

Gillian turned around faced her husband. He had his eyes closed, his head tilted back against the glass window. "Mac?"

MacGyver opened his eyes and brought his head down to look at his wife. "Yeah Gill, I'm here." He sighed and touched his bullet wound. "Mostly."

"We're going to go right now, are you ready?"

He nodded his head and took a deep breath. "Let's go."

Gillian scraped her thumbnail across both match heads. They sparked to life, emitting a slight smell of sulfur. She touched them to the fuses on the smoke bombs and lifted her eyes to meet the face of Johnny Gage.

"Light 'em up Johnny, time to go."

Johnny nodded as he flicked his Zippo. He lit all of the firecracker strings. He gave Gillian a nod and threw open the door. Both of them threw their lighted surprises out into the warehouse.

The warehouse had turned into a war zone. There was loud popping sounds and thick dirty smoke filling the air. Min and Johnny ran out of their office, followed by MacGyver and Gillian.

"Come on! Get to the door!"

Gillian was helping her husband walk. He was leaning on her pretty heavily as they quickly walked across the cement floor. The air had a strong smell of ozone and burning sulfur. It was difficult to see anything for both them and the kidnappers.

Min and Johnny made it to the door; they threw it open and ran out of it.

MacGyver and Gillian were only halfway to the door; the smoky air was making them move even slower. The sound of shots rang out and Gillian turned to see Christina and Chad had come out from behind the storage area. They both had guns and were firing at them.

"Let's go Gill." MacGyver muttered weakly as he saw the two armed people.

Gillian nodded and faced forward again, she could see the door was just up ahead. "We're almost there."

Her heart was beating so hard in her ears as she pressed her husband closer to her and started to walk faster. 

Christina recognized Gillian; her fiery red hair was unmistakable.  "Gillian!" She pointed her gun at the young woman, waving at the smoky air trying to get a clearer view. "Stop! Stop or I _will_ shoot you!"

Chad was right beside her, aiming his gun at MacGyver. "Stop or I'll shoot your husband!"

Gillian ignored them, the air was too dense, it was making seeing almost impossible. The door was up ahead, the dark night sky was visible through it. 

The guns went off and both Mac and Gillian felt the hot lead enter their bodies. One bullet hit Mac in the back of his leg, it came out the front. He cried out as his left leg became useless. The cement floor was coming closer to him as he fell. Gillian screamed as a bullet hit her in the upper arm, above her elbow. The blood from the impact splashing down her stomach and pants. She lost her footing and fell forward, flat on her stomach. She grabbed her arm, the warm blood seeping through her fingers. She turned on her side and saw both Chad and Christina running towards them. She looked beside her and saw MacGyver; he was on his side grabbing his leg. The couple locked eyes; he was gritting his teeth in pain. 

"Just go Gillian, get out of here!" His dark eyes were glassy.

Gillian shook her head as she let go of her wounded arm and crawled over to him. "No, we're getting out of here!" She got to her knees and put her hands under her husband's arms. The young woman was trying to lift him. "Come on Mac! Get up!"

MacGyver was not cooperating. "Leave me here! Just go! I'll only slow you down!"

Gillian was getting angry as she pulled with all her might. "I won't leave you here!" He was still not cooperating and she cried out in frustration and pain as she jerked her injured arm. She leaned back on her haunches and looked into her husband's face. Her dark eyes were flashing with both pain and determination. "MacGyver, get on your feet and come with me _now!"_

Mac saw the deadly serious look in his wife's eyes. A look that told him she would not leave him behind no matter what. They had come to that warehouse together and that was the way they were leaving… together. 

He swallowed hard and let her get him to his knees. He leaned on her and together they got him to his feet. There was a sharp pain that burned up his leg as he put his weight on it. Together the injured couple managed to get out the door, heading for the Land Rover.

Min and Johnny were long gone in the Nomad; this was a relief to the couple as they staggered the few hundred yards towards the Land Rover. It was pitch black, with only the light of the full moon to guide them. 

Mac could feel the warm blood as it ran down his leg; his jeans were saturated in it. Every step he took sent a lightning bolt of pain that ran all the way up his body. He could feel the adrenaline as it coursed through his veins, giving him a little more strength.

Gillian was in a great deal of pain too, her right arm was throbbing. She looked up ahead and saw the light colored Land Rover was just up ahead. "Almost there Mac."

"I know, I see it." He had his right arm across his wife's shoulders. "How bad are you hit?"

"I don't know, my arm feels like it's on fire right now."

MacGyver nodded. "Yeah you and me both." He had his hand on his leg, pressing it against the hole in his thigh. "Hurts like hell doesn't it?"

"Yeah it does."

A loud shot echoed through the dark night, it started the couple. They slowly turned around and saw not only Christina and Chad but the other two were now awake. The four of them came out of the open warehouse door. They had their guns and Brady had his rifle.

"Oh God." Gillian turned them back around.

MacGyver swallowed hard and kept glancing over his shoulder. He watched the 4 people started walking towards them. "They're coming!"

"We have to go faster!"  
Gillian started walking faster; she could feel her husband grip her shoulder with his hand. His limp was getting worse. "I know it hurts Mac I'm sorry but we have to get to the Land Rover."

"I know, its okay." 

Mac was breathing fast as they finally made it to Min and Johnny's vehicle. He slapped the hood with his hands and leaned on it. He closed his eyes briefly. His wife put her hands on his shoulders and moved him towards the passenger side. "Come on." They walked around to the passenger doors.

Gillian opened the door and quickly unbuckled her belt. MacGyver climbed in and sat down on the edge of the backseat. His wife looped her belt around his thigh and pulled it tight. He hissed through his teeth as he scooted backwards along the seat. "Man that hurts."

"Just lay down, I'll drive."

She closed the door as her husband laid down in the backseat, he sighed as he did so. He could feel his adrenaline rush start to subside. His whole body was coming down from the high and both of his bullet wounds were beginning to throb.

Gillian ran around the back of the vehicle, she opened the driver's side door. She shrugged her backpack off and tossed it inside and climbed in. She went to turn the key and looked out of the windshield. Christina and her three mercenaries were right in front of the Land Rover. They all had their guns raised, aiming straight at them.

"Mac stay down!" She ducked down just as the shooting started.

MacGyver covered his head; there were bits of glass and metal flying through the air. _"Gillian! Start the engine!"_

Gillian was lying on her right side, her arms raised to her face. There was the sound like the tinkling of wind chimes all around her from the shattered windshield. The bullets were riddling the front of the vehicle. She heard her husband's shout and lowered her arms. She saw the silver keys shining in the moonlight as they hung from the ignition. She reached out and turned the key. The vehicle burst into life, she dropped it into gear and leaned forward pressing the gas pedal with her fingers. 

Christina saw the vehicle was starting to move forward. She stood in front of it; aiming her gun at the radiator and tires. She was not about to let Gillian and her husband get away.

The Land Rover was coming straight at her but still, she did not move. She only kept firing her gun. 

The three men saw the vehicle coming right at them and they got out of its way. Davis saw it heading for the young woman. He started running and jumped at her. He tackled her and rolled out of the way just as the light colored vehicle ran over the spot where she stood. The two people landed on the gravel with a thud. Davis hard his arms around Christina, she pushed him out of the way and stood up. She watched as the Land Rover sped off into the dark night. An angry look crossed her face and she lifted her head a little.

"Get the cars, we're going after them."

Brady sighed and walked up behind her. "They're gone, it's over."

Christina slowly shook her head, a sneer on her lips. "No it's not…not until Gillian and MacGyver are dead."


	2. Stolen Treasure Chapter Two

Johnny was behind the wheel of the Nomad. The lights were off as they sped down the highway towards Los Angeles. Min kept glancing over her shoulder at the road, she was checking to see if the Land Rover was behind them or if they were being followed by Christina and her mercenaries. The dark road was empty.

"I don't see anyone, not even Gillian and Mac." Min checked to make sure Evan was all right. The little baby boy was sound asleep; his head slumped to one side.

Johnny checked the rear view mirror. He did not see one headlight. "You knew they were going to decoy the kidnappers Min, that's probably what they're doing." He glanced at the empty road again, silently wondering to himself if his friends were all right.

Min swallowed hard as she turned back around in her seat. "I just hope everything is okay. We didn't even see them come out of the warehouse."

"I know." Johnny reached down and finally turned on the headlights. "We'll get to a phone and call Pete and the police. If they are in trouble they're going to need help."

Gillian's heart was racing as she looked straight ahead through the disintegrated windshield. The cold night wind was blowing on her face and through her hair. She glanced down at the dashboard and saw the temperature indicator; the needle was in the red. "Oh no."

"What?" A weak voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

"The engine's heating up."

MacGyver reached up and put a bloody hand on the back of the driver's seat. He lifted himself up and leaned back against the seat. He had absolutely no energy and he tilted his head back. "They probably shot the radiator full of holes."

"I know but we aren't even out of the woods yet, if this keeps up we won't make it to home."

 "We'll go as far as we can and call for help." Mac closed his eyes; he was beginning to get very sleepy.

The Land Rover was starting to sputter, the speed started to drop. Gillian looked down at the temperature gage. The needle was beyond the red. She heard the unmistakable hiss and saw the long trails of steam starting to come from under the hood. "Great."

The engine sputtered again and died. Gillian pulled over on the side of the road, she pressed the brake and the vehicle came to a stop. She put it in park and turned the key, there was nothing, not one engine sound. She tried it again and still there was nothing. She pounded on the steering wheel with her fists. "No! Come on start!" She turned the key once more but got the same results. The engine was dead.

"It's no use Gill, we aren't going anywhere." Mac lifted his head and looked around. The dark dense woods were all around them, they were the only car on the side of the road. "Come on, we have to get this car out of sight."

Mac opened the car door; he set his left foot down on the gravel. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed the door. He pulled himself out of the car. His leg could not support his weight; he fell on his side onto the gravel.

"Mac!"

Gillian opened the driver's side door and crouched down. She touched her husband's face. "Are you all right?"

MacGyver sighed; he didn't even have the strength to get up. "Oh fine, I'm the world's tallest piece of Swiss cheese that can't get up. I'm just _peachy_." He smiled at her but it did nothing to make the young woman feel better. He could see this in her face and he reached up and gently placed a hand on her cheek. "I'm a mess Gill but I'm going to make it."

Gillian took the hand that was on her face and kissed it gently. "Come on, let's get you up." She leaned forward and put her arms around him. She moved him towards her and used her legs to push them both up. Mac leaned heavily against his wife as he stood.  His knees felt like rubber and he buried his head in her shoulder. "We have to find someplace to hide."

"I know, maybe there is a place around here." She turned to the side and draped her husband's right arm across her shoulders. She had a strong grip around his waist as they left the Land Rover and headed into the woods.

MacGyver and Gillian had walked for a few miles into the woods. Mac's limp was getting worse and he couldn't take much more walking.

"We have to stop."

He was breathing hard and covered in sweat. His leg was screaming in pain.

Gillian stopped, they were in a clearing. She too was out of breath; her right arm was throbbing miserably. "Come on, let's take a break."

She took her husband's arm from around her neck and walked around him. She put her hands under his arms and helped him carefully sit down. MacGyver landed on the pine needle covered forest floor with a thud. He pressed his hand to the hole in his thigh. "Every step feels like someone grinding a broken bottle into my leg."

Gillian saw the round hole in his jeans. She grabbed the denim with both hands and stretched it, making the hole bigger. She stuck her fingers into it and felt around. "Well the bullet went right through."

Mac flinched as she touched the wound. "Yeah I know." He saw her arm and touched it. He saw the entrance wound but there was no exit. "Looks like the bullet is still in your arm."

The young woman bit her lip and winced in pain. "Probably."

MacGyver leaned back and touched his hand to his pocket. He pulled out a white handkerchief. He unfolded it completely. He took a hold of both of the ends and spun it around. He carefully put it around his wife's arm and tied it tight. "There."

Gillian put her hand over the handkerchief. "Thanks." She licked her lips and pressed them together. "When we find someplace to hide I'll take a look at your other wound."

MacGyver wasn't looking forward to that. He reached up and touched it, feeling that his t-shirt was wet with blood. The wound was still bleeding. "Yeah."

"And then I'll come back and hide the Land Rover."

"Okay, we better get moving then."

Gillian stood up and reached out to her husband. He grabbed a hold of both of her hands. She hauled him to his feet and quickly grabbed a hold of him. Together the couple continued their search for shelter.

"That's our only option?"

"Yeah I think so Gill. It's either this cabin or the dirt." 

Gillian shook her head. "I think the dirt would be better." She looked at her husband and the terrible shape he was in. "Let's pray no one's home." 

It was a dilapidated little brown shack that looked like it was frequented by Smoky the Bear and his friends. The little log cabin had two windows in the front that had animal skin curtains. There were antlers strung all over the front porch and the front door. There was a grey cobblestone chimney that was also decorated with the pelts of animals.

"Who lives here?"

MacGyver wrinkled his nose. "Charles Manson from the looks of it."

"Oh that eases my mind."  
They made it to the front door and knocked on it. There was no answer and Gillian reached out and touched the door knob. She turned it and found it to be locked. 

"Got your knife handy?"

Mac touched his pants pocket and found his knife. He opened the long blade and stuck it into the lock. He jiggled the knife and turned the knob. The door creaked open and the couple simply stood there trying to make out what they could in the dark. A strong odor of must, mildew and dead animal pelts hit the couple hard and nearly knocked the two of them down. 

MacGyver put his hand over his mouth and nose. "Oh man! It smells like warmed over death in here!"

Gillian waved at the air in front of her face. "The first thing we are going to do is open some windows!"

She took a match out of her pocket and flicked it; the small light helped them see. The first thing they saw a small table with a lantern on top of it. She left her husband leaning the door frame and picked the lantern up. She lifted the glass, touching her match to the wick. She turned it up and the room began to fill with light.

The outside wasn't nearly as bad as the inside. Besides the table there was a small kitchen area with an old fashioned pump handle sink and a few cabins. The small round white fridge looked like something from the 50s.

The furniture in the living room was made of massive tree trunks and looked very stiff and hard. The set sat in front of the fireplace. In the far corner was a double bed with a multi squared quilt and two flat pillows.

MacGyver sighed as he looked around. "Well it's charming in that lone nut kind of way."

"Yeah tell me about it." Gillian sighed and helped her husband walk over to the bed. She sat him down on it and a huge cloud of dust was kicked up. He looked up at her and raised both of his eyebrows.

"Kind of dusty."

"Yeah, sorry." She helped him stand once again and pulled the quilt off the bed. She gave it a good shaking out before draping it back over the bed. She sat him back down on the bed. "Better?"

"Much, thanks." He laid back on the bed with a sigh.

"I'm going to start a small fire so this place will warm up." Gillian walked over to the fireplace; there was a large split wicker basket next to it filled with yellowing newspapers and rotting logs. She picked up a newspaper and looked at the headline. "**War in ****Korea**** over." She checked the date. "July 27th, 1953."**

MacGyver shook his head slowly. "I hope someone has been in this cabin since then."

"Not by the looks of it." Gillian stuck the newspaper in the fireplace and placed a couple of logs on top of it. She took another match out of her pocket and dragged it against the grey stone. She touched the flame to the newspaper. It began to burn and the logs caught on, making a nice fire.

"There, heat and light."

Gillian went back over to her husband; he had his arm draped across his forehead. She knelt down and touched his face. He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her.

"How ya feeling Baby?"

Mac gave his wife a tiny smile. "Like I got shot twice."

"You _were_ shot twice."

"Well then that explains the weakness and the overwhelming urge I have to go to sleep."

Gillian sighed and leaned her head on his stomach. "I'm going to go hide the Land Rover and get Johnny's big medical kit out of it. It's just like the one he uses for work. I should be able to use some stuff from it to patch you up."

MacGyver wanted very much to go help his wife but he knew there was no way he could. He was way too weak and tired to even get out of that bed. "You can't do that on your own Gill."

Gillian nodded. "I know but I have to. You stay here and get some rest." She looked over at the small kitchen and saw the cabinets. "Maybe there is some canned food or something in there."

The young woman got up and walked over to the kitchen. There were two cabinets on top and two on the bottom of the sink. She started with the top ones, they were empty. She bent over and moved a pair of red and white checkered curtains aside. She pulled back a pair of doors and smiled widely when she saw what was inside.

"Hey Mac check it out!"

The bottom cabinets were filled with jars of canned fruits and vegetables. She picked up a large mason jar of pickled peaches. "You like peaches don't you?"

MacGyver saw the jar; it was a little dusty on top. "Yeah, my mom used to can some very year."

Gillian went over to the sink and lifted the ancient handle. It came down slowly and a stream of water came out. She touched it to the jar washing off the dust.  "We got water."

Gillian walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge. She turned the jar head, popping the seal. She unscrewed the lid and sniffed the contents. "Well they smell like peaches." She stuck her fingers in the jar and got one out. She took a small bite. "And they taste like peaches." She offered it to her husband; he took a bite out of it.

"Pretty good, reminds me of my mom's."

Gillian handed the jar to her husband. "Here, eat a few of these. I'll be back as soon as I can." She leaned down and kissed his lips gently. They were peach flavored and this made her laugh a little. "A peachy kiss. You just try and stay awake, okay?"

MacGyver got another peach out of the jar and started eating it. "Okay."

"I'll see if Johnny has anything else we can use in the Land Rover." She brushed her husband's hair away from his face. "I'll be right back." 

Gillian added two more logs to the fire and left the cabin.

Gillian managed to push the Land Rover into the woods; she covered it with long branches and foliage. She knew that Christina and her hoodlums were going to be coming after them. It was only a matter of time. She was not about to make them easy to find.

She had gotten Johnny's black kit out of the Land Rover. She crawled over the backseat and much to her surprise and delight she found a few items for camping. There was a pair of sleeping bags, a flashlight, another lantern, a box with a few pouches of freeze dried food and a small pot and pan. She also saw two large canteens. She looked everything over and sighed.

"Johnny Gage, I owe you a big kiss."

Gillian started gathering everything up and setting it down on the ground. The dark night was quiet, except for the sounds of animals and crickets. She picked up the flashlight and turned it on; looking around the area she was in. It was very creepy; the trees looked unfriendly and foreboding. The long shadows cast by the moon only added to it. She swallowed hard when she heard a rustling noise coming from behind her. She whipped around and shined the light in the trees. It was a small brown rabbit. She breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

"Come on Gill, relax. You've got to get all this back to the cabin."

Gillian turned the flashlight off and set it on the hood. She picked up a sleeping bag and started to untie the string around it partially. She undid it enough to make a large loop and put it diagonally across her chest. She did the same thing with the other one. She bent down and picked up the small box. She had it in one hand and bent down and picked up the black medical kit. She put the flashlight into the small box and looked around. She made sure the Land Rover was well camouflaged before heading back to the cabin.

MacGyver set his jar of peaches down on the floor. He swung his legs carefully around the side of the bed and sat up. He touched the two ends of his open jacket and carefully took it off. His white t-shirt had turned red with blood. He set his jacket down on the bed and looked down at his left leg. He started untying the belt that Gillian had put around it. He closed his eyes briefly and sighed. His head felt light and a wave of dizziness suddenly shifted the room. He squeezed his eyes shut against it. He laid back on the bed and waited for it to pass.

The cabin door opened and Gillian walked into it, she saw her husband's legs. "Mac what are you doing?"

"Oh, not much." He opened his eyes and was staring up at the ceiling.

"I found some great stuff in the Land Rover."

She set everything down on the table and picked up a canteen. She went over to the sink and filled it.

"Here, have some water."

She went over to the bed and sat down on it. She helped her husband sit back up and handed him the canteen. He drank heavily from it, nearly emptying it of its contents. 

"Easy now don't gulp it."

Mac wiped his mouth and sighed. "Good stuff, really hits the spot."

Gillian got the canteen back and had a few sips of it. She nodded. "Yeah it does. I found some camping equipment. Johnny even has some freeze fried food and some pots and pans to cook it in."

MacGyver got the canteen back and emptied it. "And what's on the menu tonight?"

Gillian got up and went over to the table. She started digging the pouches. "Let's see, we have chicken and rice, beef stew, potatoes and beef. And there is one of freeze dried ice cream." She picked up the ice cream and tore the package open. "Here, you have the ice cream."

"Before dinner?"

"Yeah I know but I don't want to make any of that until I look you over." She handed her husband the pouch and stood over him. "Okay Mac, swing those legs back onto the bed and lay down."

Gillian had gotten her husband out of his clothes. He was lying on the bed in a pair of blue boxer shorts. They were partially stained with blood from the wound in his thigh.

She opened up Johnny's medical kit and had gotten out the disinfectant. She cleaned out his chest wound and had put a pressure dressing on it and taped it down heavily. She was hoping the multi bandage would finally stop the bleeding. She had given her husband a penicillin IV, hoping it would prevent him from getting sick.

MacGyver flinched as she sank the needle into his left arm. "That hurts."

"I know Honey I'm sorry."

She looked down at his leg and the bandage she had put there. It was not bloody and that was a relief to her. She sighed and wiped her brow. "How do you feel Mac?"

MacGyver had finished with his ice cream and handed the empty pouch to her. "Tired, I'm really sleepy Gill."

Gillian saw the dreamy look on his face. His eyes were opening and closing slowly.  She reached out and touched his face. "All right, why don't you go to sleep for a while?"

She took a gauze pad out of the medical kit and wet it with water from the canteen. She wiped his face gently.

Mac turned to look at her; he reached up and touched her face. "Will you lay down with me?"

Gillian smiled and touched the hand on her cheek. "Of course I will." She stood up and picked up a red sleeping bag. She untied it and opened it. She had it in her hands as she climbed up on the bed and covered them both up with it. She curled up beside him and closed her eyes.

Gillian sat straight up; she was breathing hard and covered with sweat. Her stomach was beginning to bother her. She knew what it meant, her and her husband were in danger. She looked down at her husband; she touched his forehead and closed her eyes briefly. His forehead was hot.

"Oh no."

"Mac?" She shook his left shoulder gently.

Her husband opened his eyes slowly. His eyes were glassy and dazed. He looked at her and tried to focus his eyes. "What?"

Gillian swallowed hard. "Listen to me, Christina and her men are after us. We need to do something to protect ourselves." His eyes closed and she patted his face. "Mac please, you have to pay attention. If we don't do something she'll kill us. I need you to think."

MacGyver heard the panic in his wife's voice. He forced his eyes to open. "What…what do we have?"

"Not a lot, hardly anything." She was looking around the cabin; she got up and looked out the small kitchen window. She spotted what looked like a small storage shed. "There's a shed out back."

"Go see what's in it. There may be something useful." His voice was getting low again.

Gillian went out the front door and ran around the little cabin. She went to the little wooden storage shed and opened it. There were animal pelts it in, a box of bullets, a chain saw and a few tools.

"Great, none of this is very helpful." She turned to leave when she spotted something at the bottom of the hill that was below her. It looked like an abandoned construction sight. She smiled as she closed the shed door and ran back inside the cabin.

MacGyver felt lousy, he felt like he was in an oven. His whole body was burning and his two wounds were throbbing. He was trying very hard to stay awake. 

The door opened and Gillian came running back inside.

"There's an old construction site down the hill from us."

"That'll work. Help me get up."

Gillian was shaking her head as she approached the bed. "No Mac, you stay here and rest. I'll check it out and be right back."

Mac tried to get up on his own but couldn't, he closed his eyes briefly as he slumped back against the bed. "I can't think of a way for us to defend ourselves if you don't let me go with you."

His wife sat on the edge of it and touched his face. His cheeks were beginning to turn red, a sure sign of a beginning fever. Gillian swallowed hard; she knew exactly why he had a fever. "No you're staying here and rest. I'll tell you what I find at the site." She leaned down and kissed his forehead gently and pressed hers to it. Something in the back of her mind was telling her that they didn't have a lot of time. "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

MacGyver managed to give his wife a small smile. He watched her closed the door behind her as she left. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table of his house; he was leaning with his elbows on the table. He had his head in his hands. A pair of small hands encircled his waist, and leaned a chin on his shoulder. 

"What did he say?"

Johnny uncovered his face and sighed. "I talked to Pete; he said after we called him from that gas station he alerted the State Police and the Forestry Service. As of about a half ago there is still no word and no sign of either Mac and Gillian or the Land Rover." He wiped his hands down his face and exhaled through them. "Evan?"

Min walked around her husband and sat down on his lap. "He's sleeping quietly. I put him in his pajamas and gave him his bottle. He went to sleep with no trouble." She sighed and leaned her head against her husband's chest. "We wouldn't have Evan back if it wasn't for Mac and Gillian Johnny. They risked their lives to get him back for us."

"I know." He put his hands on his wife's hair and stroked it gently.

"Do you think they're okay?"

The paramedic sighed and kissed her head. "I hope so Min."

"Me too." She put her arms around her husband's neck. "I want them to be okay Johnny."

"According to Pete, the Forestry Service and the State Police are going to search that entire area. If they are anywhere around there, they'll find them." 

"All we can do is wait to hear from Pete.

Both of them were trying hard not to let bad thoughts about their friends enter their mind. The couple simply sat there waiting anxiously for the phone to ring.  

Gillian was walking around the abandoned construction site. The site was in a clearing that had seen hard times. The sun had turned the knee high grass a pale yellow, it crunched under the heels of her boots. The thick dead grass covered everything. There were piles of warped and weather beaten boards. They were twisted and bent as though by the hand of Mother Nature herself. There was an old cement mixer; it had at one time been a deep red. Now it had turned a burnt orange, the harsh rays of the sun having eaten away at the vibrant color. There were two sheds a few yards away from each other. One was made of wood and looked like an overgrown outhouse. The other was metal, its tin roof still shining in the bright orange sky of the approaching dawn. She wandered aimlessly through the lot looking for things that she could tell her husband about. She stumbled, nearly falling face first into the tall grass. She turned around and bent over, parting the grass with her hands. It was a rusted hammer that had nearly caused her to eat dirt. She sighed as she picked it up and tossed it. There were more tools she could see scattered all over the ground. It was like walking through a mine field. She took her next few steps very carefully.

Gillian found her way over to the tin shed; she opened it and saw it was a tiny office. There was a small metal desk, and a tiny filing cabinet. There were many faded and torn papers at her feet, some of them looked to be blueprints. 

The wind kicked up, howling as it blew through the unwanted equipment and rotting scaffolds. It sounded like someone screaming. She whipped around and looked out across the clearing, there was no one. It was only the wind blowing, gently brushing against her cheeks. She put her hand to her racing heart and swallowed hard as she stepped out of the metal box and closed the door. 

Gillian walked over to the other little wooden building; it was faded to a light grey color. She reached out and wrapped her hand around the handle. The door creaked as she opened it. She poked her head in and looked around. The smell of dust was heavy in the air. It made Gillian's nose itch. 

The wooden structure was empty except for a few things. There were rolls of chain link fencing, and two rolls of electrical wire. There were some red bricks piled up, there were thick cobwebs over them. Next to the bricks were some ancient looking bags of cement. Gillian looked at all of this and nodded her head. 

"Well it isn't much but it'll have to do."

She closed the door and decided it was time to get back to the cabin. She had much to tell her husband.

Gillian opened the cabin door and walked in.

"Mac, I…" She spotted the empty bed.

Gillian's heart began to race as she stepped farther into the room. Her husband was lying face down on the floor; his bare back was the only thing she could really see. She raced into the cabin and crouched down, as soon as she touched her husband's back she gasped. He was burning hot to the touch. She put her hand on his shoulder and rolled him over carefully. His face was bright red.

"Mac?" She licked her lips and patted his flushed face.

Her husband slowly opened his eyes. His gaze fixed on her and he swallowed hard. "I…I got thirsty."

The sound of his voice nearly made the young woman cry. He sounded so helpless, like a little child. 

Gillian moved to his right side and put her hand under him, she helped him sit up. "Come on, get back into bed." She got behind him and put her arms around his waist, lifting him. She put him back into the bed and laid him down. "I'll get you some water."

The canteen was on the floor and she went down and picked it up. She filled it with water from the pump handle and brought it to him. She put her hand on the back of his neck and helped him take a drink. She eased him back down and wet her fingers. She gently touched them to his face and forehead. She was half expecting his skin to sizzle. 

MacGyver closed his eyes briefly. "What did you find at the construction site?"

"There wasn't much but in a shed I found some roles of fencing, a pile of bricks, a few bags of cement and some electrical wiring."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah."

Gillian was looking into her husband's face; she could see the sickness and the pain in his eyes. The young woman was trying so hard to be brave but her courage was filtering out of her body like sand through her fingers. She swallowed hard; she was beginning to get very scared.

"Mac…" She put both hands on her face. "I need you to listen to me." Her eyes began to grow wet and a few stray tears began to roll down her face. "You have to tell me what to do, please." She took a deep shuddering breath. "I know you don't feel good Baby but please. We have to do something to defend ourselves."

MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together. She was right; he didn't feel good at all. His head was pounding and his body was sore and aching.  He reached up and wiped his wife's face. "No tears Gilly Bean. We're going to get out of this."

Gillian squeezed her eyes shut and put her head down on his stomach. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'll be your hands."

Mac put his hands in his wife's hair and stroked it gently. "You have to go get the battery and the jumper cables out of the Land Rover. Bring all the chain link you can carry, and the bags of cement."

Gillian lifted her head, her face was shiny. "Is that all?"

MacGyver nodded slowly. "Yeah, when you get all that. I'll tell you what to do."

Gillian was digging a large hole, it was her third. She had two more all along the trail that led to the cabin. Each hole was wide enough and deep enough to trap a man and keep them their. She had a rust colored wheel barrow next to her that she found in the tool shed. It had cement in it and she wheeled it to the edge of the hole and dumped it in. She crouched down and covered the last hole with pine needles, leaves, grass and twigs.  She straightened up and looked down the path; all three of the holes were well hidden.

Gillian took a roll of fencing and laid it flat on the ground, she kicked it and it unrolled. She crouched down and took out a pair of faded blue wire cutters and started cutting a large square of the chain length. She cringed as she feel the sharp chain length poke the flesh of her knees through her jeans. She snipped at the thick metal and picked the square up. She took a hammer and nails out of her pocket and walked over to the front door. She unrolled the fencing and started hammering it onto the door.

The ringing phone started awake Min and Johnny. The couple had stayed awake most of the night waiting for the phone to ring. They had finally dropped from exhaustion at around 3 o'clock in the morning.

Min nearly rolled off of the bed as she scrambled for the phone. She grabbed it and put it to her ear.

"Pete?"

"Yeah Min it's me."

The young woman wiped her face. "Any word?"

The man on the other end of the phone sighed. "Not yet, they found the warehouse and some tire tracks but no sign of the Land Rover."

Min swung her legs over the side of the bed and put her hand across her eyes. "Oh no."

Johnny was finally awake; he leaned back against the headboard and rubbed his eyes. "Any sign Min?"

"No Johnny." She shook her head as she uncovered the phone. "Pete we _have_ to find them. Mac got shot; he needs to see a doctor."

"I know Min believe me. The search isn't over yet. I'm just as worried as you and Johnny are."

"We are Pete; all we want is for them to be all right."

Johnny reached out and put his hand on his wife's back. She turned and leaned back against the headboard. The couple was still in their clothes, they had been too tired to change.

"Believe me Min; my two best friends in the whole world are out there. I'm not just worried, I'm scared to death."

Min sighed as she reached down and took Johnny's hand. "You're not alone on that Pete. We are too."

Gillian had taken the two sleeping bags and put them over her husband. She had built a large fire, trying to make the small cabin as hot as possible. She was trying to break her husband's fever. She was sweating from the intense heat and she was trying to get her husband to do the same. The young woman was kneeling down on the floor beside him.

MacGyver was totally red, he was shaking badly. He turned his head; his fever muddled gave locking on her face. "Gill."

Gillian leaned close to him and touched his hair. "I'm here Baby."

He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm cold."

"I know, I'm trying to make you warm." She stroked his blond hair gently and bit her lip. She knew that the penicillin IV was doing nothing for him. The only thing that would stop his fever was to take the bullet out of his chest. The longer it stayed the sicker he was going to get, or worse.

Gillian's blood seemed to turn to ice water in her veins; she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to her husband's. It felt like she was leaning against a boiling pot, she could feel the heat even though the two sleeping bags. Gillian sighed, she knew what she had to do but it was not that simple.  She couldn't take the bullet out until his fever was broken; to do it before then would probably kill him. 

"I'm going to die Gillian."

Gillian heard that and pulled back from her husband. She shook her head fast. "No, don't even talk like that."

Mac shook his head slowly; he seemed to come back to himself. His eyes were clear. "I'm sick, I've got an infection and we can't get to a hospital."

Gillian swallowed hard, tears springing to her eyes. "No, now you listen to me. We're going to make it. But I need you to fight. I need you to stay with me." Her lower lip was quivering slightly. "Do you understand? I'm not going to let you die and leave me here all by myself." She pressed her lips together as the tears rolled down her face.

MacGyver was very tired; all he wanted to do was go to sleep. He looked at her as his eyes grew shiny. "You're the best thing that _ever happened to me." He swallowed hard. "And I love you very much; I want you to know that; in case I don't make it out of these woods alive."_

That was the last straw for the young woman; she broke down and leaned her head against his shoulder. She put her arms around his neck. "Mac please, stop this. Stop talking like you're going to die." She lifted her head, her eyes flashing with anger. "You're not going to die! Do you understand? You're going to fight!"

A sharp pain ripped through Gillian's stomach and she put her hand to it and drew in a shaky breath. Every cell in the young woman's body suddenly cried out to her that she was in danger. She looked down at her husband. "They're coming."

MacGyver licked his lips and pressed them together. "Is everything ready?"

Gillian nodded. "Yeah, we're ready."

She touched her husband's face. "As soon as your fever breaks I'm going to take that bullet out of your chest and that will stop the infection. But you have to hang on, okay?"

MacGyver brought his hand out from underneath the sleeping bags and touched his wife's face gently. "Okay."

Gillian sighed and squeezed his hand gently. She put it back under the sleeping bag and pulled it higher up on him. She stood up and leaned over her husband, kissing his lips. She closed eyes briefly and leaned her head against his shoulder. 

Gillian walked over to the table and hooked the two jumper cables up to the Land Rover's battery. The buzz of electricity suddenly filled the small cabin. It was time to take a stand. 

Christina, Davis, Brady, and Chad had been searching the woods the whole night. They had finally seen the smoke coming from the chimney just after dawn. The 4 of them were coming up the trail that led to the cabin. Christina had her gun, an angry scowl on her face. She spotted the small wooden cabin and she smiled.

"There it is, they _have_ to be in it."

It was about 50 yards up ahead, everyone stopped walking and did a weapons check. Christian had lost her gun when Min had punched her. She had been using a Berretta from one of her cohorts. She took the clip out of the bottom and checked to make sure it was full. She slapped it back in and pulled back the hammer. She turned and looked at the three men. 

"Kill MacGyver, one in the head will end his misery. But leave Gillian for me, understand?"

Brady still had his rifle, he pulled the bolt back. "Yeah don't worry, she's all yours."

Chad nodded as he slapped his magazine back into the bottom of his nickel plated pistol and cocked it. "I get it, let's go."

Christina turned and looked at Davis; she was waiting for the dark haired man to acknowledge her request. He was scowling. "I want MacGyver; I owe him for the lamp. I'll leave his wife to you."

The young woman nodded. "Well, now that we all understand each other, let's go have some fun."

Gillian had added a few more logs to the fire, the cabin was burning hot and she was soaked with sweat. It looked as though she had been hosed down. She was sitting on the edge of her husband's bed; she had a log in her hand. She held it high and her right arm complained. She bit her lips and put her hand to it and squeezed it. She looked down at her husband, his eyes were glassy again but he was awake.

"Mac?"

He turned his head to look at her. "I'm…still here." He gave her a small smile.

Gillian nodded. "Are you sure that fencing will work?"

"Yeah." He swallowed hard. "Can I have some water?"

"Sure." She set her log down and picked up the canteen. She helped him take a drink.

"Thanks." He closed his eyes briefly. "The battery will charge the whole cabin. You _did_ connect all the fencing with that wire right?"

"Right."

"They won't be able to touch anything without getting a very painful surprise."

Gillian couldn't help but smile. "If they can make it through the cement pits I dug."

There were 4 people approaching the rustic little cabin. The only woman was in the lead followed by Brady, Davis and Chad.  The blond man was bringing up the rear, a few feet behind the others. He had his gun in his hand, concentrating on the mission. He was not paying attention to where he was walking. His left foot came down, he was expecting the ground to be solid but to his surprise it wasn't. He fell right into a camouflaged hole that was filled with cement. It was extremely thick and went up to his upper chest. 

"Hey!"

He started thrashing around; it was like being stuck in taffy. The other three people stopped and turned around. Christina creased her brow. "What the _hell_?"

Davis saw where his friend was, he turned around and sighed. "Looks like he fell in a hole."

The young woman's face bloomed into a look of annoyance. She shook her head slowly. "Go help that idiot get out of there."

Davis nodded and tucked his gun back into his holster. He started walking straight towards his friend when he too found a cement pit. The cement made a loud slurping sound as the man dropped into it. He was a few feet away from his friend and just as stuck. The hole was deep enough and wide enough that neither man could pull themselves out. 

Davis looked at Christina and Brady. "I'm stuck! Get me out of here!"

Brady went to go help when the dark haired woman grabbed his arm. "Don't be stupid, you want to go back and get trapped like those two?"

The big bald man slung his rifle over his shoulder. "So what do we do?"

"Leave them, come on."

The two people started walking ahead, ignore the protests of their comrades.

Christina and Brady were standing in front of the cabin. She had her gun tucked into the waistband of her black pants. She had her hands on her hips. Brady was beside her, looking at the cabin.

"What did they do?"

Christina sighed. "Well obviously they were expecting us."

The black haired woman was right, they were. The whole cabin had been covered with chain link fencing. The windows and even the door were covered with it. The little cabin looked like a giant rabbit cage. The pieces of fencing had been connected to each other with grey wiring. There was a faint buzzing sound filling the air.

"So what, it's only fencing."

Brady went to touch the part that was strung across the front porch. Christina grabbed Brady by his forearm. "Are you stupid or just plain deaf?"

The bald man jerked his arm out of her grasp. "What are you talking about?" His face was twisted in slight anger over her insulting words.

Christina put her hand in her left pocket and took out some change she had. "Watch."

She took a couple of steps close to the porch and tossed the coins in her hands at it. The money hit the fencing and the buzzing grew loud, sparks flew out and rained down on the ground.

Brady turned his head away briefly from the sparks. "Damn! It's electrified!"

"I told you they were expecting us."

"So what do we do?"

Christina sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She lifted her head and looked around. "Well there is no power line nearby. The source of that power has to be a generator of some kind. Those things don't last forever." She smiled when she saw that part of the roof was uncovered. It was a small three foot section right next to the chimney.  "Looks like they ran out of fencing."

There was a tall tree a few feet away from the small cabin but its branches stretched all the way across it. Christina saw how far the thick branches stretched. "I think I know what we are going to do."

Gillian was squeezing her husband's hand, it was like a holding a freshly baked roll. She lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling. "They probably spotted the hole by now." She brought her head down and swallowed hard. "They'll be in here in a few minutes."

MacGyver nodded weakly. "You know what you have to do?"

"Yeah I know."

He squeezed her hand. "Be careful…okay?"

"You too."

The couple touched lips briefly before Gillian reached down and picked up her backpack. She let go of her husband's hand and stood up.

Christina was dangling from the end of a long thick branch; she was a few feet above the top of the cabin roof. She let go and dropped onto the only space on the roof that wasn't covered with electrified fencing. She stood up and looked down at her rather hefty companion. 

"As soon as I get in, I'll turn off the power."

Brady took his rifle off of his shoulder. "All right, do it."

Christina crouched down and put pressure on the boards with her feet. They seemed pretty sturdy. She straightened up and looked around. The chimney was right there beside her. She put her hands on the top of it and started jumping. The boards were beginning to crack under the young woman's feet. She gripped the top of the chimney harder and jumped one last time. She put every ounce of her weight into it and the boards splintered under her feet. She pulled her feet out and stomped on them until they broke completely, the smashed pieces falling down into the cabin.

"Brady, I'm going in!"

Christina looked down through the hole; she could see the fireplace and the tree trunk furniture. She sat down on the edge of it and put her legs through the hole. She let them dangle, her bent elbows keeping her from dropping straight through it.  She gripped the edge with her fingers, her body sliding along the broken jagged bits of the hole she created. She was looking down at the living room and let go, dropping down onto the wooden floor. The first thing she saw was the roaring fire and the table with the black battery and jumper cables. She unhooked them and turned around. She drew her gun as she saw the bed and someone obviously lying in it. 

"Well, well, well…and what do we have here?" 

Christina's high heeled boots thumped as she walked over to the bed and looked down at it. She saw MacGyver in it, the sleeping bags pulled up to his chin. 

She shook her head slowly, and pointed the gun right at his left temple. His eyes opened and he turned his head slowly to look at her.

"Don't worry Darling; you'll be out of your misery very soon." Christina pulled the hammer back on her gun and smiled. 

Her smile quickly bloomed into a look of confusion; she looked down at her stomach. Her white turtleneck had two red dots on it, and two needles were sticking out of her stomach. She swallowed hard as she pulled them out. 

Christina was holding them in her hands; she glanced at Mac and saw the slight grin on his lips. "Seems… that's not going to happen."

A hand slid out from in between the two sleeping bags and pulled it back. Gillian sat up and smiled. "Hello Christina."

The young woman had been lying down on top of her husband. She climbed out of the bed and stood before her.

Christina could feel the drug in the needles start to take affect. She was on her feet but she stumbled a little; her eyes were heavy. Gillian took her gun from her and tossed it. She grabbed the front of her turtleneck. "This is for Evan." She drew back her left hand and punched her. Christina fell flat on her back, she didn't get up.

Gillian bent over her and rolled her onto her stomach. She took her husband's roll of duct tape out of her jeans pocket and put the young woman's hands behind her back. She taped them heavily along with her ankles. She put a piece of tape over her mouth and rolled her under the bed.

"Nice punch."  Mac reached out and pulled the sleeping bag back over himself.

"Thanks." Gillian tucked the duct tape back into her pocket and stood over her husband. She put her hands on her hips. "Ready for the other one?"

MacGyver sighed and nodded slowly.

The front door of the cabin was pounding, it was locked on the inside but the small latch did nothing to keep Brady out. The big man kicked at the door until the latch bent and broke. The metal pieces making a chiming noise as they kit the wooden floor. He had his rifle in his hands, the bolt was pulled back and ready to fire. 

Brady walked around the cabin slowly, looking around. He spotted the bed and went to it, there were two sleeping bags pulled over it. There were lumps in it and he grabbed them both and flung them back. To his surprise the bed was empty. 

"All right where you two?"

The big bald man turned around, he saw the kitchen. He walked into it and saw something just off of it that looked like another room.  He started walking towards it.

"Hey Big Boy…"

A voice called out to him from the front part of the cabin and he came racing back around the corner. His big blue eyes scanning over everything. He walked into the living room.

"Where are you?"

"Right here."

Gillian was above him, in the hole that Christina had made. She let go of the edge of the hole and dropped onto his back. She put her left arm around his neck and wrapped her long legs around his upper chest. 

Brady dropped his rifle and tried to grab her. Gillian had the other two darts in her right hand. She stabbed them into his right shoulder.

Brady cried out loudly in pain, he reached up and grabbed a hold of Gillian's right arm. He squeezed her bullet wound.

Gillian screamed, it felt like her arm was being ripped off. Brady had a hold of it and he flipped her over his head. She landed on her behind at his feet, her right arm was bleeding and she was holding it. The color had drained from her face as she squeezed the wound, trying to put enough pressure on it to stop the bleeding. 

Brady jerked the two darts out of his shoulder and dropped them. "Think those things were going to knock me out?" He was flying high on his adrenaline rush. The darts were not having an affect on him.

Gillian realized he was not losing consciousness; she looked around but saw nothing useful to defend herself with. 

The large man had a look in his eyes; it was a combination of delight and anger. He tried to bend down to grab her but she scooted backwards out of the way. It hurt her right arm terribly but she didn't care she wasn't about to let that man grab her. He started walking towards her. 

Gillian backed up a little more and something solid. She reached behind her and lifted it up. 

It was the rifle; she grabbed it with both of her hands. She stopped moving backwards and waited for the right opportunity to use it.

Brady saw she had stopped; he bent down and tried to grab her. 

Gillian had the rifle in her hands; she brought it from behind her back and swung it as hard as she could. Her right arm complained and throbbed but she didn't care. She put every ounce of fear, anger and frustration into that swing. 

The butt end of the rifle struck the large man the right side of his jaw. His expression went from determination to shock. His eyes turned glassy and rolled back into his head as a loud crunch rang out. The rifle had broken his jaw. Brody fell onto his side, his mouth was bleeding heavily. 

Gillian was breathing hard as she dropped the rifle. She slowly got up and walked around him. She rolled him over onto his stomach and put his hands behind his back. She tied them up with the duct tape. She put several layers, insuring he wouldn't be able to get free. She also put the tape around his ankles. She backed away from the man still breathing hard. Her right arm was throbbing and she held onto it as she went to get her husband.

MacGyver was lying in a cast iron bathtub; he was in a partial room just off of the kitchen. The tub was the only thing in the little cubby hole. He was soaking wet, like he had taken a bath in that tub although it was empty. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be asleep.

Gillian came into the bathroom, smiling widely. "Mac, I-" She saw the way he looked and her heart started racing. She forgot all about getting Brady and her badly hurting arm. She crouched down near the tub, her eyes wide.  She reached out and touched his forehead gently. It was nice and cool to the touch and the young woman breathed a huge sigh of relief and closed her eyes briefly. His fever had broken. 

"Thank you God." 

Gillian moved her hand from his forehead down to his cheek. "Baby?"

MacGyver slowly opened his eyes and looked at his wife. She was a mess, her hair was sticking up and he saw her bleeding arm. "Did you get him?"

"I got him."

He gave her a slight grin. "Good." He licked his lips and pressed them together.

"Your fever is broken."

Mac nodded his head. "I know…you did it."

Gillian creased her brow. "I did, how?"

Her husband's lips pulled back, showing his teeth. "You were lying down on top of me; your body heat was too much." He chuckled slightly. "Your hot blood is what did it."

Gillian couldn't help but start to laugh. She stood up partially and put her arms around her husband's neck and carefully hugged him, mindful of his wound. "You know what this means don't you?"

Mac returned her hug and rubbed her back. "Yeah, it means I won't be a pencil anymore."

"That's right." She pulled back and touched his face. "You'll feel a whole lot better and I'll make you something to eat."

"Okay."

Gillian put her arms under his and started to get him out of that tub.

Gillian had Johnny's medical kit opened. She had taken a scalpel, a pair of bulldogs, some tweezers and a retractor and had put them in the small pan she had found in the Land Rover. She filled the pan with water and put it over the fire. She had given her husband a couple of injections of lidocaine. The local anesthetic had numbed his whole chest. 

MacGyver was awake, he felt much better since his fever had broken. He was still pretty weak but more alert now. He was thinking of a way for them to get help. He had an idea but it would have to wait. 

Gillian came back with the pot; she had a couple of animal pelts she was using as pot holders. She dumped the boiling water in the sink and set it down. She got a bottle of alcohol out of the medical kit and poured it all over her hands and the freshly boiled instruments. She filled the pan with the alcohol and brought it back over to the bed. 

"How do you feel?"

"Numb."

Gillian reached out and gently poked him in the chest near his wound. "Did you feel that?"

Mac shook his head. "Nope, not a thing."

"Good."

Gillian took a brown glass bottle out of the kit and a few cotton balls. It was a bottle of disinfectant; it was a bright yellow color. She began to wipe it all over his chest.

"Looks like mustard." MacGyver was looking down, watching his wife spread the disinfectant on his wounded chest.

"I know but believe me you don't want to spread this stuff on bread and eat it." Gillian set the disinfectant down and washed her hands once more in the small pan of alcohol. She picked up the scalpel and held it in her left hand. "Mac, maybe you should look the other way."

MacGyver turned his head to the right. "I think I got an idea of how to get us rescued."

Gillian had the scalpel in her hand; she carefully used it to cut a small line into the bullet wound. "Oh yeah? How?"

Mac was tempted to look but he decided not to. He simply kept his head turned to the right side. "Do we have any chemicals around this place or in Johnny's kit?"

Gillian picked up the retractor and stuck it in the little wound. She cranked it open. "I think we might have a few in the kit. I know there is some ammonia in the Land Rover."

"If we can get the right chemicals we might be able to make some colored smoke. I _know_ Pete has to be looking for us."

Gillian reached into the pan and picked up the bulldogs. She was looking for the bullet.  "The first thing Min and Johnny did was call him I bet."

Mac got rather curious and turned his head. He saw what his wife was doing and his eyes grew wide. He could see into his chest. He was very relieved he couldn't feel anything.

Gillian gasped loudly and put her hand above his chest, blocking his view. "Mac turn back! I don't want you to pass out on me!"

He tilted his head back. "Okay that was dumb, very very dumb." He felt lightheaded and the room shifted slightly. He closed his eyes against it.

Gillian quickly rinsed her left hand and stroked his face gently. "Stay with me okay? Keep talking."

"I'm here. Just feel a little woozy." He opened his eyes but kept his head tilted back so he couldn't see what his wife was doing. He lifted his left arm; there was a Band-Aid in the bend of his arm from the IV. "I don't remember you taking the IV out."

"You were pretty out of it when I did." She creased her brow as she looked for the bullet. There was no sign of it yet.

 "How's it going?" Mac had his head turned to the right again.

"Good, still no sign of that bullet."

Gillian sighed and set the bulldogs aside. "Damn it. I know it's in there." She put her fingers into the wound and started feeling around.

"What's wrong?"

"The bullet is hiding." Gillian's fingers finally brushed against something hard. "Aha! I think I found it."

She took the tweezers out of the pan and stuck them into the wound. She gripped the bullet with it and gently lifted it out. "There we go, one bullet." 

MacGyver turned back around but didn't look down at his chest. His kept his eyes focused on his wife. "You got it?"

Gillian leaned over and rinsed both the bullets and her hands. She stuck everything back in the pan and handed it to her husband. The bullet was pretty flat and a little on the squashed side. 

"Oh man." He held the little chunk of disfigured metal in between his fingers, looking it over carefully.

Gillian got the bottle of alcohol out of the kit and some butterfly bandages. "Okay, I'll use the butterfly bandages on your wounds until we get you to a hospital. They can stitch you up there." She poured the alcohol into his wound and began to clean off the blood and disinfectant.

MacGyver was sitting up. His chest was heavily bandaged with a pressure dressing and so was his leg. He was covered partially up with a sleeping bag. He had a small tin plate in his hand. It was piled high with the freeze dried chicken and rice. He hadn't realized until he started eating how hungry he was. He took another bite and sighed. 

Gillian was serving herself some on a plate. She had worked up an appetite. She had moved Christina and her three henchmen into the little shed behind the cabin and had locked it. She walked back over to the bed. She was glad to see her husband eating. "How is it?"

"Pretty good." He ate another spoonful and carefully shifted over on the bed making room for her. "Come sit with me."

MacGyver gave her his most charming smile as he patted the bed gently. Gillian shook her head as she sat down beside him. "I see you're feeling better." She handed him a canteen of water.

"Some, don't have any energy yet though."

"The food and some rest will give you some." She had her fork in her hand and had a bite of the chicken and rice. "Hey this is pretty good." Her right arm complained and she hissed through her teeth and rubbed it. "So much for the anesthetic, it's wearing out."

Mac finished his food and had a drink of water from the canteen. "I still can't feel mine; I guess you gave me a lot more than you gave yourself."

"Yeah I guess I did. I think there is some Xylocaine in Johnny's kit. It's a topical one, that should give us some relief. I really don't want to break out the morphine." She let go of her arm and continued eating. 

MacGyver yawned widely; he had eaten his fill and was starting to feel tired. "I'm so beat Gill."

"Well we've had quite an exciting day." She turned and looked at him. "You were really sick."

"I know. I was pretty scared too." He reached down and gently took her hand. "But you made me feel better."

Gillian smiled at her husband. "I was scared too Mac." She reached out and glided her fingers down his face; her eyes growing soft as she gazed at her husband. "I love you Mac, so much."

MacGyver grinned at his wife; he put his hand behind her neck and pressed on it. He turned his head sideways slightly and kissed her. When the kiss ended he touched his forehead to hers. 

Gillian was sound asleep, lying beside her husband. MacGyver was awake, his chest and leg were hurting him but that wasn't the most pressing issue at hand. He thought it was time they left this rustic cabin. The couple had been asleep for a few hours, it was still daylight and he wanted to take advantage of that fact. 

He was lying on the left side of the bed, the only side not against the wall. He carefully moved the sleeping bag aside.  He swung both of his legs over the side of it and scooted to the edge of the bed. He took a deep breath and pushed against the bed. He bit his lips hard as he stood up. It hurt his chest and his leg terribly and his knees felt like they were made of water. He still felt like he didn't have much strength but he was better. He swallowed hard as he took a step. His leg thigh was stiff and the movement caused a flash of pain to crawl up his body. 

"Come on Mac, you can do this."

MacGyver sighed and took a couple of steps. He had a terrible limp but at least he was moving around. He hobbled into the kitchen and saw the gallon jug of bright blue windshield washer fluid that Gillian had brought from the Land Rover. It was sitting on the wooden counter next to the sink along with the black medical kit. He opened the kit and started looking through it. He took out the alcohol and set it aside. There was a glass bottle of saline solution, Mac took that out and set it down on the counter. 

"Let's see… ammonia, alcohol, saline. All I need now is something bubbly." He rummaged through the drugs and found antacid tablets. "Bingo."

MacGyver saw the pan Gillian had used to make their dinner. She had washed it out and set it down in the sink. He picked it up and moved the bottles aside. He placed it on the wooden counter and began opening the bottles.

Mac had made his way over to the fireplace, the fire had burned low and he picked up a stick and stoked it. He added a couple of logs to it and got it going again. He bent down and carefully put the pan with his special mixture into the fire. When it began to boil, it would tell anyone that was looking for them exactly where they were. 

 "Well, that should do it." He made his way back over to the bed and laid back down beside his wife.

Pete had decided to join the search for his friends. He had been sitting by the phone waiting and it was driving him crazy. He was in a Forestry Service helicopter looking over the woods that surrounded the TannisComm warehouse. He sighed as his eyes scanned the woods; there was no sign of his friends. He wiped his hands down his face and turned to the pilot. "Why don't we try following the freeway again, maybe we missed something."

The pilot made a face. "We've flown over it three times already! We didn't miss anything!"

The stout man scowled deeply. "I don't care if we fly over it a thousand times! My best friends are out there, one of them seriously wounded. We are going to comb these woods until we find them, understand?"

The young man with the light brown hair and baby face nodded his head slowly. "Yes Sir."

He moved the stick to the left and turned the copter in the direction of the freeway; it started following the paved road.

Pete adjusted the headphones on his head as he looked down. He could see the black asphalt, he watched how it twisted and turned as it cut through the forest.

"Come on MacGyver, show me where you are!"

"What the hell?"

Pete lifted his head and turned to look at the pilot. "What?"

The young man pointed up ahead to an area a few miles off of the freeway. There was bright blue smoke coming up through the trees. 

Pete saw this and his heart slammed against his ribs. He started laughing. "That's got to be MacGyver! Take us down!"

The pilot moved the stick and the bright white and green helicopter took a slight nose dive towards the woods.

Min and Johnny were in their room with Evan. They had the little baby boy on the bed with them. The couple was feeling rather low and using their son to lift their spirits. Evan was lying on his back in nothing but a diaper. He was between his two parents smiling and laughing. He was making a new noise and waving his little fists and legs in the air as he gazed at his mother and father.

Johnny was on his side, propped up on an elbow. He had changed into a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt. He was smiling widely as he looked down at his son. "I missed him so much Min."

Min was also on her side, she had on a pair of pink shorts and a pink tank top. She was laughing at her son's new noise. It was a high pitched sigh. "Yeah me too." Her smile faded as she thought about her friends. "Johnny, do you think they're okay?"

The paramedic's face grew serious. "I really hope so Min." He sat up and picked up his son. He held Evan to his chest. 

The phone started ringing and Min sat up and fast. She rolled over and grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Hi Min, its Pete."

Min felt her mouth go dry, she licked her lips. "Any word?"

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. It was only a few seconds but it seemed like an eternity. Pete began to chuckle on the line. "We found them."

The young woman sighed loudly and lowered her head. "Thank God, are they all right?"

Johnny smiled widely and hugged Evan to him. "They found your Aunt and Uncle Evan."

"They're fine Min. A little worse for wears but they're fine. We're over here at Rampart."

Min nodded as she wiped her hands down her face. "Okay we'll be right over."

"Okay see you soon."

The dark haired woman slammed the phone down. She was smiling widely. "They found them Johnny!"

"Are they okay?"

"Pete said so, they're at Rampart."

Johnny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kissed his son on the head. "Well, let's go to Rampart then."

Gillian came out of an exam room; her right arm was bandaged heavily. She saw Pete sitting down in the chairs near the Emergency entrance. She sat down beside him, holding her arm.

The stout man in the blue jeans and grey t-shirt turned and faced her. He patted her knee gently. "What did Dr. Early say?"

Gillian sighed as she rubbed her arm and leaned back in the chair. "He said I did a good job of getting the bullet out and I only needed three stitches. He also gave me a prescription for some antibiotics."

Pete nodded; he reached down and picked up her hand. "Any word on Mac?"

Gillian turned to face him slightly. "He's with Dr. Brackett. I have no idea what's going on." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "I'm _so_ tired Pete. It feels like we were in those woods for weeks."

"I know." He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders. He drew her to him and leaned his head against hers. "You both really worried me."

"Believe me you weren't the only one worried. Did you get a hold of Min and Johnny?"

"Yeah they'll be here soon."

"Gillian?"

They both looked up and saw Dr. Brackett standing over them. He had a clipboard in his hands. "Hi."

"Hi, how's my husband?"

The dark haired doctor smiled. "He's fine. I congratulate you on your surgical skills. You should consider getting your RN certification."

Gillian sighed and dropped her head. "Oh I'm so _glad to hear you say that."_

Kel creased his brow. "You weren't sure?"

"Not really." She lifted her head and looked at the doctor. "I wasn't sure if I was going to be helping him or killing him but I knew I had to try."

"Well you helped him." Kel looked at his clipboard. "I just need to verify what I read on his dog tag. He's allergic to coconut and Penicillin, right?"

Gillian nodded. "Right, especially the coconut."

Dr. Brackett wrote something down. "Okay, I'll tell Dix to get another antibiotic to give to him and double check the prescription."

"Thank you Doctor."

Kel smiled. "You're very welcome." He nodded his head at Pete and went back into the exam room.

Pete watched the doctor leave. As soon as the swinging wooden door closed he started laughing and shook his head. "Coconut? MacGyver is allergic to coconut?"

Gillian creased her brow. "You didn't know that?"

"No, I had no idea."

"Well he is."

The stout man started laughing really hard. "I can't believe that."

Gillian wiped her hand down her face. "Why is that funny?"

Pete sighed and cleared his throat. "Gillian I've known your husband for a very long time. I've seen him do amazing things and survive a lot, even a three story swan dive onto the top of a car. It just strikes me as funny that a little thing like an ingredient found in a candy bar can kill him!"

MacGyver was carefully walking down the hall towards the ringing doorbell. He had on black shorts and a light blue t-shirt. His white butterfly bandages were visible on the front and back of his leg. He unlocked the door and opened it. He saw it was Min, Johnny and Evan.

"Hi."

He unlocked the door and stepped back, letting them come in.

Min kissed her friend on the cheek as she walked by him. "Hey Mac."

Johnny was holding Evan. He stepped into the house and shook his friend's hand. "How are you feeling?"

MacGyver closed the door. "Good. I get the stitches out of my chest in a few days."

"And your leg?"

"No stitches there, just the butterfly bandages."

Mac saw Evan and he smiled widely and held out his arms. "Come here little one." The baby boy smiled at his uncle.

Johnny handed his son to him as the three people walked into the kitchen. Gillian was sitting at the table shuffling cards. She got up and hugged both of her friends and kissed Evan on the cheek. "So, are we ready to play cards?"

Min nodded as she opened Evan's diaper bag and brought out two bags of chocolate kisses. "Ready!"

MacGyver left the room and came back with Evan's swing. He set it up and put the little boy inside of it. "Evan is ready."

Johnny sat down and rubbed his hands together. "I'm ready to kick butt."

Gillian shook her head as she continued shuffling the cards. The area above her right elbow still had a bandage on it from her bullet wound. 

Mac sat down in the chair and grabbed one of the bags of kisses. He opened it and took a few out. Min saw him and grabbed the bag back. "I don't think so! These are for betting!"

"Aw come on Min, give me a break! I'm an injured man!"

The dark haired woman shook her head. "You _will be if you steal any more candy!"_

MacGyver put his hand to his chest and his mouth dropped open. "You would do that? Beat up an already wounded man?" 

Johnny was sitting next to him; he put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Mac I'll defend you."

Gillian finished shuffling the cards; she looked across the table at Min. "Can you believe this?"

Min looked around the table at her husband and friends. With everything that had been going on she had wondered to herself if things would ever be back to normal. They obviously were and it filled the young woman's heart with joy. She smiled widely and nodded her head. "Yeah I can and I'm _loving every minute of it."  _


End file.
